Cell Death and Differentiation (2002) 9, 439 ± 447 ã 2002 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 1350-9047/02 $25.00 www.nature.com/cdd Death effector domain-containing proteins DEDD and FLAME-3 form nuclear complexes with the TFIIIC102 subunit of human transcription factor IIIC Y Zhan1,2,3, R Hegde1,2,3, SM Srinivasula1,2,3, Abbreviations: DED, death effector domain; EST, expressed T Fernandes-Alnemri1,2 and ES Alnemri*,1,2 sequence tags; CTD, C-terminal domain 1 Center for Apoptosis Research, Kimmel Cancer Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA Introduction 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Kimmel Cancer Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA Death effector domain (DED)-containing proteins are im- 3 These authors contributed equally to this work portant components of the cell death receptor-signaling * Corresponding author: ES Alnemri, Thomas Jefferson University, Kimmel pathway.1,2 Ligation of the death receptors, such as TNF, Cancer Institute, Bluemle Life Sciences Building, Room 904, 233 S 10th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. Tel: 215-503-4632; Fax: 215-923-1098; CD95 and TRAIL receptors, results in the recruitment of the E-mail:
[email protected] adaptor molecule FADD/Mort-1 through homotypic interac- tions of its C-terminal death domain with the cytoplasmic Received 8.2.02; accepted 8.2.02 death domain of the death receptors.1,3,4 FADD, which also Edited by G Melino contains an N-terminal DED, transduces the activation signal from the death receptors to the DED-containing precursors (procaspases) of the initiator caspases 8 and 10, by direct Abstract interaction of its DED with their corresponding DEDs.1,5 The Death effector domain-containing proteins are involved in association of FADD with procaspase-8 and procaspase-10 important cellular processes such as death-receptor induced results in their auto-processing/activation and the release of apoptosis, NF-kB activation and ERK activation.