%0 Journal Article
%T Are protozoan metacaspases potential parasite killers?
%A Beno£¿t Meslin
%A Habib Zalila
%A Nicolas Fasel
%A Stephane Picot
%A Anne-Lise Bienvenu
%J Parasites & Vectors
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1756-3305-4-26
%X In the late nineties, Aravind from Bethesda was the first to describe orthologues of caspases [1]. This paved the way for Uren and colleagues to describe paracaspases from animals and slime mould, and metacaspases from plants, fungi and protozoa, in the beginning of 21st century [2]. Caspases are limited to metazoans, while metacaspases are missing from them: leading to the hypothesis that metacaspases resemble ancestral proteases and that caspases have diverged through evolution under environmental stresses. Approximately a hundred papers were published during the first decade of the new century: mostly studying the role of metacaspase in apoptosis in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for example [3,4]. While the involvement of yeast metacaspase in cell death is well documented [5,6], a non-death role for the yeast metacaspase Yca1p has also been described [7]. More recently, authors have strongly expressed their disagreement with the classification of metacaspases as part of the caspases family [8]. It was argued that the specificity of these enzymes should determine their classification, rather than any similarities. Other papers with definitive titles ("Are metacaspases caspases?" [9] and "Metacaspases are caspases. Doubt no more" [10]) were published, demonstrating the vitality of the debate. Whether this controversy will address issues of medical importance is debatable. However, it demonstrated the requirement to explore the role of metacaspases, as an aid to determining whether renaming these enzymes in agreement with their definitive specificity is needed.Although only recently described and their function poorly explored, metacaspases could be considered as potential targets for new specific treatments against the main protozoan parasites affecting humans. Elucidating their role in physiology is certainly a requirement, but it is clear that addressing this issue could provide new insights into the fight against tropical diseases.Peptidases are c
%U http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/4/1/26