FUNCTION: SwissProt: P42574 # Involved in the activation cascade of caspases responsible for apoptosis execution. At the onset of apoptosis it proteolytically cleaves poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) at a '216-Asp- -Gly-217' bond. Cleaves and activates sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) between the basic helix-loop- helix leucine zipper domain and the membrane attachment domain. Cleaves and activates caspase-6, -7 and -9. Involved in the cleavage of huntingtin.
SIZE: 277 amino acids; 31608 Da
SUBUNIT: Heterotetramer that consists of two anti-parallel arranged heterodimers, each one formed by a 17 kDa (p17) and a 12 kDa (p12) subunit.
SUBCELLULAR LOCATION: Cytoplasm.
TISSUE SPECIFICITY: Highly expressed in lung, spleen, heart, liver and kidney. Moderate levels in brain and skeletal muscle, and low in testis. Also found in many cell lines, highest expression in cells of the immune system.
PTM: Cleavage by granzyme B, caspase-6, caspase-8 and caspase-10 generates the two active subunits. Additional processing of the propeptides is likely due to the autocatalytic activity of the activated protease. Active heterodimers between the small subunit of caspase-7 protease and the large subunit of caspase-3 also occur and vice versa.
SIMILARITY: SwissProt: P42574 ## Belongs to the peptidase C14 family.