The nuclear lamins are intranuclear intermediate filament proteins that are
thought to play a structural role at the interface between the peripheral
chromatin and the inner nuclear membrane (reviewed in References 67,68).
A number of studies have demonstrated that lamins are degraded early in
the course of apoptosis.64,65,69-74 Subsequent studies have demonstrated that
caspase-6 preferentially cleaves the lamins at a site in the coiled-coil domain
that is thought to be responsible for protein–protein interactions in the lamin
filaments.30,75 Interestingly, inhibition of lamin degradation prevents fragmentation
of the nucleus,73,75 suggesting that lamin degradation is required
for packaging of nuclear fragments into apoptotic bodies.