Caspase 3 Human Caspase Cysteine Peptidase Enzymatic LeadHunter Assay - TW

Background Information:

Caspases are the executioners of programmed cell death (apoptosis), a normal process used physiologically to eliminate specific cells or cell types without damaging surrounding cells or causing an inflamatory response. All caspases belong to a family of proteases characterized by a cysteine residue in the active site and display specificity for Asp residues. Caspases are present in all cells as a procaspase, which becomes activated through proteolytic cleavage by other proteases including other caspases. Caspase-3 (CPP32, Yama, and apopain) is constitutively expressed in cells as a 32 kD procaspase. Activation of caspase 3 occurs by cleavage of the procaspase into 12 and 17 kD mature fragments by caspase 8, 6 and GranzymeB. Mice deficient in caspase 3 die within three weeks of birth due to failure of neuronal apoptosis. These mice display hyperplasia, duplicated brain structures and ectopic cell masses. However, the defects are restricted to the neural tissues, other organs are normal; indicating that caspase 3 has a non-redundant role in neural apoptosis. Caspase inhibitors are currently sought as therapeutics for such diseases as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cerebral/myocardial ischemia.

Family:

Protease

Sub Family:

Caspase

Class:

Cysteine Peptidase

Protein Name:

Caspase 3

Uniprot Number:

P42574

Gene Name:

CASP3

Gene ID:

836

Gene Aliases:

CPP32|CPP32B|Yama|apopain

Accession Number:

NM_004346

Organism:

Human

Construct Details:

Fragment, Recombinant