%A Akhilesh Kumar
%A Shweta Tikoo
%A Shuvadeep Maity
%A Shantanu Sengupta
%A Sagar Sengupta
%A Amandeep Kaur
%A Anand Kumar Bachhawat
%O Copyright of this article belongs to NPG.
%J EMBO reports
%T Mammalian proapoptotic factor ChaC1 and its homologues function as ?-glutamyl cyclotransferases acting specifically on glutathione.
%X ChaC1 is a mammalian proapoptic protein of unknown function induced during endoplasmic reticulum stress. We show using in vivo studies and novel in vitro assays that the ChaC family of proteins function as ?-glutamyl cyclotransferases acting specifically to degrade glutathione but not other ?-glutamyl peptides. The overexpression of these proteins (but not the catalytically dead E>Q mutants) led to glutathione depletion and enhanced apoptosis in yeast. The ChaC family is conversed across all phyla and represents a new pathway for glutathione degradation in living cells, and the first cytosolic pathway for glutathione degradation in mammalian cells.
%N 12
%K apoptosis; ChaC1; ?-glutamyl cyclotransferases       
%P 1095-101
%V 13
%D 2012
%I Nature publishing group
%L open1217