Debbie White wrote:
> My sister called yesterday with a newspaper article about some scientists (I believe from Yale) who discovered the enzyme that causes neuron death. Does anyone know of this discovery?

Is this the one you're looking for?...

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/980807/ma_vertex__1.html

Company Press Release
Vertex Pharmaceuticals/Yale Research Team Uses Gene Knockout Mice to
Establish Role of Caspase-9 in Neuronal Cell Death Pathway; Report in
Cell

Vertex Caspase Program Targets Treatment of Neurological and Other
Diseases

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of scientists from
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Yale University School of Medicine, Howard
Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at Yale University, and Tokyo
Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science (TMI) reported results with a
gene knockout mouse that establishes a key role for the enzyme Caspase-9
in a specific biochemical pathway that results in neuronal
cell death. These findings, published in the August 7, 1998 issue of
Cell, suggest that blocking Caspase-9 may be a viable strategy for
treating a variety of acute and chronic age-related neurological
diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and stroke.

Caspases comprise a family of enzymes that are being evaluated for their
role in a number of diseases, based on their involvement in biochemical
pathways of inflammation and of apoptosis (also known as programmed cell
death or cell suicide). Apoptosis is an essential component of numerous
biological processes, including tissue remodeling, immune system
regulation and embryonic development. Abnormal activation of apoptosis,
however, is implicated in the development and progression of a number of
different human diseases, and links between specific caspases and
specific diseases are beginning to be established. The publication of
the Cell paper is the first report describing the in vivo function of
Caspase-9, and suggests apparent tissue-selective activity among the
eleven reported human caspases.

``When mitochondria -- the energy factory of cells -- are damaged,
Caspase-9 is activated leading to cell death,'' said Dr. Richard A.
Flavell, an HHMI Investigator and an author of the study. ``In cells
lacking Caspase-9, this damage did not give rise to cell death.''

``Our results also indicate that Caspase-9 is activated early and is
essential for apoptosis in neuronal cells, and that deletion of
Caspase-9 does not interfere with embryonic development of other
non-neuronal tissues,'' said Dr. Keisuke Kuida, Staff Investigator at
Vertex and an author of the study. ``This suggests that a therapeutic
approach designed to interrupt the apoptotic pathway triggered by
Caspase-9 could block unwanted cell death linked to several neurological
diseases.''

The Vertex, Yale/HHMI and TMI researchers inserted a defective Caspase-9
gene into mice and then bred them to produce offspring with two
defective copies of the Caspase-9 gene. Biochemical experiments
demonstrated that neuronal apoptosis was specifically blocked in the
transgenic mice deficient in Caspase-9. Experiments also suggested that
Caspase-9 is active upstream of Caspase-3 (also known CPP32) in the
neuronal apoptosis pathway. The Caspase-9 knockout mice showed altered
central nervous system development, with more profound alterations than
those observed in Caspase-3 knockout mice. Both Caspase-9 and Caspase-3
appear to be selectively active in neuronal tissues during development.

``The balance between cell production and cell death is important for
normal brain development,'' said Dr. Pasko Rakic, Professor of
Neurobiology and Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine and an
author of the study. ``Too much or too little cell death can cause
severe malformations leading to disorders such as mental retardation and
childhood epilepsy. This study shows that Caspase-9 is essential for
cell death and therefore gives new insight into how the brain develops
in normal and pathological conditions.''

``The results of the transgenic experiment are striking,'' commented Dr.
Michael Su, Senior Research Fellow at Vertex and an author of the Cell
paper. ``By removing the Caspase-9 enzyme, we prevented brain cells from
dying during the early stages of mouse development. We can infer from
this that using compounds that block Caspase-9 or another enzyme in this
pathway may be a viable strategy for treating neurological diseases that
involve apoptosis.''

``This is the first report in the scientific literature describing
Caspase-9 function through a gene-knockout experiment, and illustrates
how Vertex approaches functional genomics as part of an integrated
discovery platform,'' said Dr. Joshua Boger, Chairman, President, and
CEO of Vertex. ``This research clarifying the relationship between
caspases and their activity in body tissues greatly increases our
understanding of which caspases are appropriate targets for drug
discovery.''

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an established track record of scientific
innovation and is a leader in caspase research. Previously, Vertex and
Yale/HHMI researchers were the first to describe the biochemical and
physiological effects of the ICE (Caspase-1) enzyme through a gene
knockout mouse experiment, and Vertex researchers were the first to
elucidate the 3- dimensional atomic structure of ICE. Additionally, Dr.
Keisuke Kuida, together with colleagues Dr. Richard Flavell and Dr.
Pasko Rakic, reported the first Caspase-3 (CPP32) gene knockout mouse,
and Vertex researchers have solved the structure of the Caspase-3
enzyme. Vertex and partner Hoechst Marion Roussel plan to begin Phase I
clinical trials of VX-740, an inhibitor of ICE targeting inflammatory
diseases, later in 1998. Vertex has a research program directed at
developing novel, orally administered inhibitors of different targets in
the caspase family with potential in the treatment of stroke,
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, myocardial ischemia and other
indications.

The contributors to the Cell paper include Dr. Richard Flavell, a Howard
Hughes Investigator, and Drs. Pasko Rakic, Tarik Haydar, and Chia-Yi
Kuan, all of the Yale University School of Medicine; Drs. Choji
Taya and Hajime Karasuyama, both of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of
Medical Science; and Drs. Keisuke Kuida, Yong Gu and Michael Su, all of
Vertex.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX - news) is engaged in
the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, small
molecule pharmaceuticals for the treatment of diseases for which there
are currently limited or no effective treatments. The Company is a
leader in the use of structure-based drug design, an approach to drug
discovery that integrates advanced biology, biophysics and chemistry.
The Company is concentrating on the discovery and development of drugs
for the treatment of viral diseases, multidrug resistance in cancer,
autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.

There can be no assurance that compounds that are discovered on the
basis of this research will be successfully developed into compounds for
clinical testing, that clinical trials with compounds will commence
or compounds will receive marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration or equivalent regulatory authorities, or that drugs, if
any, which receive such approval will be marketed successfully.
Investors are also directed to consider other risks and uncertainties
discussed in documents filed by Vertex with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

SOURCE: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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