H. Robert Horvitz initially established the importance of caspases in apoptosis and found that the ced-3 gene is required for the cell death that took place during the development of the nematode C. elegans.
TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand TRAIL activates Caspase 3 (CASP3), which in turn interacts with caspases 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 to induce apoptosis in granulosa cells.