Caspase 9 (also termed ICE-LAP6, Mch6, Apaf-3) is a member of cysteine protease family of caspases and is encoded by the CASP9 gene in humans. Caspase-9 is involved in mitochondrialapoptosis pathway and is an initiator caspase.
Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases (ERK) also known as the Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase (MAPK), MAPK/ERK proteins are a family of protein-serine/threonine kinases that are activated via the phosphorylation of tyrosine. MAPK/ERK are activated by diverse mechanisms.