Fig. 2. Glycosylation network of CD95 and CD95-mediated apoptosis.

Triggering CD95 by CD95L or agonistic antibodies induces its oligomerization and the subsequent formation of the death-inducing signaling complex (DISC). At the DISC, procaspase-8 undergoes dimerization in the death effector domain filaments that is followed by the activation of caspase-8. The mature caspase-8, consisting of two p18 and two p10 subunits, cleaves and activates downstream effector caspases, including caspase-3. CD95 is N-glycosylated in the extracellular domain, which can modulate the function of CD95 by several mechanisms discussed in the text