âThatâs something we can test. If it does, caspase-1 inhibitors mightâand I emphasize mightâbecome a component of a curative cocktail.â G. Doitsh et al., âCell death by pyroptosis drives CD4 T-cell depletion in HIV-1 infection,â Nature, doi:10.1038/nature12940, 2013.
Decades ago it was believed that a cascade of enzymes controls the activity of HMG-CoA reductase: an HMG-CoA reductase kinase was thought to inactivate the enzyme, and the kinase in turn was held to be activated via phosphorylation by HMG-CoA reductase kinase kinase.
Phosphorylation is an effective way of regulating proteins. About 30% of proteins in eukaryotic cells are phosphorylated. The enzymes that are responsible for these reactions are known as protein kinases.