Publications by authors named "Mengxue Zeng"
Plasma membrane integrity is vital not only for cell survival but also nearly all aspects of cell functioning1. Mechanical stress can cause plasma membrane damage2, but it is not known whether there are large molecules (proteins) that control plasma membrane integrity. Here we constructed a 384-well cellular stretch system that delivers precise, reproducible mechanical strain to adherent cells.
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- Caspase-2 is an initiator caspase that triggers apoptosis through the PIDDosome multi-protein complex, but its mechanism in cell death activation was not fully understood.
- Researchers found that the Bcl2 family protein BID is necessary for caspase-2-mediated apoptosis, with caspase-2 directly processing BID to initiate the mitochondrial pathway for cell death.
- A new compound called HUHS015 was discovered to specifically activate caspase-2-mediated apoptosis, which requires BID but operates independently of the PIDDosome, highlighting a potential avenue for developing drugs targeting caspase-2 in diseases.
The pyroptosis execution protein GSDMD is cleaved by inflammasome-activated caspase-1 and LPS-activated caspase-11/4/5. The cleavage unmasks the pore-forming domain from GSDMD-C-terminal domain. How the caspases recognize GSDMD and its connection with caspase activation are unknown.
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