Paracaspase

Paracaspases (human: MALT1) are members of the C14 family of cysteine proteases.[1] Paracaspases are proteins related to caspases present in animals and slime mold, in contrast to metacaspases, which are present in plants, fungi, and "protists".[2] The phylogenetic distribution is a bit confusing, since slime mold diverged earlier than the animal/fungal split.

Paracaspase has been first identified in a recurrent t(11;18)(q21;q21) chromosomal translocation associated with a subset of MALT lymphoma. This leads to a fusion oncoprotein consisting of the carboxyl terminus of MALT1 and the amino terminus of c-IAP2. Paracaspases are more similar to caspases than metacaspases are, indicating that this group of proteases diverged from caspases from a common metacaspase ancestor.

  1. ^ Minina EA, Staal J, Alvarez VE, Berges JA, Berman-Frank I, Beyaert R, et al. (March 2020). "Classification and Nomenclature of Metacaspases and Paracaspases: No More Confusion with Caspases". Molecular Cell. 77 (5): 927–929. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2019.12.020. PMC 7325697. PMID 32142688.
  2. ^ Uren AG, O'Rourke K, Aravind LA, Pisabarro MT, Seshagiri S, Koonin EV, Dixit VM (October 2000). "Identification of paracaspases and metacaspases: two ancient families of caspase-like proteins, one of which plays a key role in MALT lymphoma". Molecular Cell. 6 (4): 961–967. doi:10.1016/S1097-2765(05)00086-9. PMID 11090634.