We have identified several key events in thymocyte apoptosis over the past few years, including a required role for proteasome function and the production of ROS. While we our data established that proteasome function and ROS production are required for apoptosis in thymocytes, we had not established the order of events leading from the primary apoptotic stimulus to the activation of caspases. Recently, we have demonstrated that both T cell receptor induced apoptosis and glucocorticoid induced apoptosis signal thymocytes to die through activation of the proteasome and this event is upstream of the production of ROS.
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