海洋浮游植物metacaspase蛋白酶研究进展

Research progress of metacaspase proteases in marine phytoplankton

Metacasapase蛋白酶在植物生长发育及适应逆境胁迫方面发挥着重要的调控作用。近年来发现,在逆境胁迫诱导海洋浮游植物细胞程序性死亡(PCD)的过程中,metacaspase蛋白酶执行类似于其在高等植物中的功能,但它们的结构与生化特性等却有别于高等植物metacaspases。在对比分析metacaspases及其家族成员的基础上,本文总结了近年来海洋浮游植物metacaspase蛋白酶的相关研究成果,分别对其结构、生化特性、底物及功能等进行了阐述,旨在为深入研究其调控网络途径及作用机制提供参考。

Metacaspase proteases play a vital role in the development and adaptation of plants under exposure to dif-ferent abiotic stresses.In recent years,an increasing number of studies have reported that metacaspase proteases in ma-rine phytoplankton have functions that are similar to those in higher plants in the process of programmed cell death in-duced by abiotic stresses;however,the structural and biochemical characteristics of the proteases in them are different.Based on the results of a comparative analysis of metacaspases and their homologues,this review focuses on the pro-gress made in recent research on the structural and biochemical characteristics and the substrates and function of met-acaspase proteases in marine phytoplankton,which could help us further investigate the regulatory network pathways and mechanism of action of metacaspase proteases in marine phytoplankton.