Caspases are a family of cysteine proteases that are key mediators of programmed cell death or apoptosis.1 The precursor form of all caspases is composed of a prodomain and large and small catalytic subunits. The active forms of caspases are generated by several stimuli including ligand-receptor interactions, growth factor deprivation and inhibitors of cellular functions. All known caspases require cleavage adjacent to aspartates to liberate one large and one small subunit, which associate into a tetramer to form the active enzyme. Caspase-1 is similar to the cell death gene CED-3 of C. elegans and regulates multiple proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-1β and interferon-γ-inducing factor.WARNING This product is not for human or veterinary use.
