Taspase 1: A protease with many biological surprises

Abstract

Taspase 1 (TASP1) cleaves the mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) and transcription factor (TF) IIA families of nuclear proteins to orchestrate various biological processes. TASP1 is not a classical oncogene, but assists in cell proliferation and permits oncogenic initiation through cleavage of MLL and TFIIA. TASP1 is thus better classified as a "non-oncogene addiction" protease, and targeting TASP1 offers a novel and attractive anticancer therapeutic strategy.