"The chapters are strikingly uniform in their thoroughness of treatment of the assigned topic, with extensive references to the supporting literature... A useful feature of this volume is that it begins with an extensive, if not totally complete, summary of abbreviations, which certainly helps to follow the narratives in this field... the book should prove useful to those wishing to have an easy access to the current knowledge of capases as instruments of cell death, and can be recommended to a wide variety of potential readers. Given the continuing fascination with the mysteries of apoptosis, it seems likely that this advice will be taken." (Cell Cycle, 2:2 (April 2003)

• Preface. 1. The Caspase Family.- 2. Caspase Cascades in Apoptosis.- 3. Caspase Activation at the TNF-R Family Members Death Inducing Signaling Complexes (DISCs.- 4. Mitochondrial/Apoptosome Dependent Activation of Caspases.- 5. Modulation of Caspase Activity by Cellular Inhibitors.- 6. Virus-Encoded Caspase Inhibitors.- 7. Apoptosis Dependent and Independent Functions of Caspases.- 8. the Role of Caspases in Modulation of Cytokines and Other Molecules in Apoptosis and Inflammation.- 9. Caspases, Bcl-2 Family Proteins and Other Components of the Death Machinery: Their Role in the Regulation of the Immune Response.- 10. Learning from Deficiency: Gene Targeting of Caspases.- 11. Caspase Activation in Cancer Therapy.- 12. In Situ Activation of Caspases Revealed by Affinity Labeling Their Enzymatic Sites.- 13. Other Methods of Caspase Activity Monitoring.- 14. Caspases as Targets for Drug Development.- 15. Caspase-Independent Cell Death Mechanisms.- Index.