Identification of paracaspases and metacaspases: two ancient families of caspase-like proteins, one of which plays a key role in MALT lymphoma.

null Caspases are cysteine proteases essential to apoptosis. We have identified two families of caspase-like proteins, Paracaspases (found in metazoans and null Dictyostelium ) and metacaspases (found in plants, fungi, and protozoa). Metazoan paracaspase prodomains contain a death domain and immunoglobulin domains. Several plant metacaspase prodomains contain zinc finger motifs resembling those in the plant hypersensitive response/cell death...