Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a common property of multicellular organisms (Danial and Korsmeyer, 2004; Krammer, 2000). It can be triggered by a number of factors, including UV- or γ-irradiation, chemotherapeutic drugs or signaling by death receptors (DR). The DR family is part of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (Bhardwaj and Aggarwal, 2003). Triggering members of the DR family by death ligands results in the transduction of either apoptotic or survival signals. The poster shows a general overview of DR signaling, summarizing the molecules and pathways involved.
Eight members of the death receptor family have been characterized so far: tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1; also known as DR1, CD120a, p55 and p60), CD95 (also known as DR2, APO-1 and Fas), DR3 (also known as APO-3, LARD, TRAMP and WSL1), TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand receptor 1 (TRAILR1; also known as DR4 and APO-2), TRAILR2...
