For this article, Tom Hollon interviewed Seamus J. Martin, professor of medical genetics at the Smurfit Institute, Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Data from the Web of Science (ISI, Philadelphia) show that Hot Papers are cited 50 to 100 times more often than the average paper of the same type and age.

E.A. Slee, M.T. Harte, R.M. Kluck, B.B. Wolf, C.A. Casiano, D.D. Newmeyer, H.G. Wang, J.C. Reed, D.W. Nicholson, E.S. Alnemri, D.R. Green, S.J. Martin, "Ordering the cytochrome c-initiated caspase cascade: Hierarchical activation of caspases-2, -3, -6, -7, -8, and -10 in a caspase-9-dependent manner," Journal of Cell Biology, 144:281-92, Jan. 25, 1999. (Cited in 173 papers)


That apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is fundamental to cell biology is underscored by discoveries that apoptotic dysfunction contributes to numerous diseases. The apoptotic death signal is transmitted by caspases, a small family of proteases. A goal of research is...

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