The active effector caspases then proteolytically degrade a host of intracellular proteins (e.g. PARP-I) to carry out the cell death programme.47 We observed reduced expression of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-I (PARP-I) and caspase-3 proteins in DARPP-32- and t-DARPP-overexpressing cell lines relative to controls (Fig. 1c, d), suggesting exogenously overexpressed DARPP-32 isoforms decrease apoptosis in SCLC cells. Here, CASP3 is linked to small cell lung carcinoma.