A cell suicide module: Auxin-induced rapid degradation of Inhibitor of Caspase Activated DNase (ICAD) induces apoptotic DNA fragmentation, caspase activation and cell death

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Authors

Samejima K, Ogawa H, Ageichik AV, Peterson KL, Kaufmann SH, Kanemaki MT, Earnshaw WC.

Summary

Caspase Activated Dnase (CAD) is a major apopototic nuclease responsible for DNA fragmentation and apoptotic chromatin condensation.   Rapid depletion of CAD inhibitor in living cells (1) using the Auxin Inducible Degron system induces CAD activation (2).   This leads to caspase activation (3) and cell death (4) through a positive feedback loop.   This study indicates that controlled dissociation of CAD from ICAD is a novel method to eliminate unwanted cells.