In this work, we studied the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis at various stages of brain maturation in CD-1 mice. The pathway was activated by cytochrome c and Smac/DIABLO and its activity regulated by Hsp-70. The expression levels of Smac/DIABLO and Hsp-70 increased about 2-fold after birth. In cell-free extracts from mice brain, caspase activity increased 90-fold in the fetus, 61-fold after birth and the activity was completely losed afterwards. These results suggest that the pattern of activation of the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis during brain maturation was time-dependent.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21127207
The cystatin superfamily comprises a large group of proteins, present in a wide variety of organisms, including humans. Cystatins, as rather non-selective inhibitors and their inhibitory activity is vital for the delicate regulation of their target proteases such as the papain family, including cysteine cathepsins. They are also prone to form amyloids. Therefore, studies on their structure were helpful to understand the amyloid-fibril formation, as well as many diseases such as neurodegeneration, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, arthritis, and cancer.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21560615