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Caspases

Caspases (cysteinyl aspartate proteases) are involved in the signaling pathways of apoptosis, necrosis and inflammation. These enzymes can be divided into initiators and effectors. The initiator isoforms are activated by, and interact with, upstream adaptor molecules.

Products
Background
Literature (6)
Gene Data

Inhibitors
Cat. No. Product Name / Activity
2166 Z-DEVD-FMK
Cell-permeable, irreversible caspase-3 inhibitor
6172 INF 4E
Caspase-1 and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor
2163 Z-VAD-FMK
Cell-permeable, irreversible caspase inhibitor
7143 VX 765
High affinity and selective caspase-4 and caspase 1/ICE inhibitor; orally bioavailable

Activators
Cat. No. Product Name / Activity
2251 Cisplatin
Potent pro-apoptotic anticancer agent; activates caspase-3
3590 Gambogic acid
Apoptosis inducer. Activates caspases
2581 PAC 1
Activator of procaspase-3; pro-apoptotic
1758 PETCM
Activator of caspase-3

Other
Cat. No. Product Name / Activity
2098 Apoptosis Activator 2
Promotes apoptosome formation and activates caspase-9/caspase-3 pathway. Selectively induces tumor cell apoptosis

Related Targets

    Caspases (cysteinyl aspartate proteases) are involved in the signal transduction pathways of apoptosis, necrosis and inflammation. These enzymes can be divided into two major classes - initiators and effectors. The initiator isoforms (caspases-1,-4,-5,-8,-9,-10,-11,-12) are activated by, and interact with, upstream adaptor molecules through protein-protein interaction domains known as CARD and DED.

    Effector caspases (-3,-6,-7) are responsible for cleaving downstream substrates and are sometimes referred to as the executioner caspases. More than 700 caspase substrates have so far been identified (see The Caspase Substrate Database).

    Initiator caspases, such as caspase 8, may be directly activated by death receptors such as FasR. Caspases can also be found intracellularly as part of large multiprotein complexes. For example, caspase 9 is recruited to the apoptosome formed during apoptosis, whilst caspases-1 and 5 can form part of the inflammasome, a key part of cytokine processing during inflammation.

    Caspases are regulated by inhibitors of apoptosis and by dominant negative isoforms. They have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many disorders including stroke, Alzheimer's disease, myocardial infarction, cancer, and inflammatory disease.

    External sources of pharmacological information for Caspases :

      Literature for Caspases

      Tocris offers the following scientific literature for Caspases to showcase our products. We invite you to request* or download your copy today!

      *Please note that Tocris will only send literature to established scientific business / institute addresses.

      Cancer

      Cancer Research Product Guide

      A collection of over 750 products for cancer research, the guide includes research tools for the study of:

      • Cancer Metabolism
      • Epigenetics in Cancer
      • Receptor Signaling
      • Cell Cycle and DNA Damage Repair
      • Angiogenesis
      • Invasion and Metastasis
      Neurodegeneration

      Neurodegeneration Product Guide

      A collection of over 275 products for neurodegeneration research, the guide includes research tools for the study of:

      • Alzheimer's disease
      • Parkinson's disease
      • Huntington's disease
      Cell Cycle & DNA Damage Repair

      Cell Cycle & DNA Damage Repair Poster

      In normal cells, each stage of the cell cycle is tightly regulated, however in cancer cells many genes and proteins that are involved in the regulation of the cell cycle are mutated or over expressed. Adapted from the 2015 Cancer Product Guide, Edition 3, this poster summarizes the stages of the cell cycle and DNA repair. It also highlights strategies for enhancing replicative stress in cancer cells to force mitotic catastrophe and cell death.

      Huntington's Disease

      Huntington's Disease Poster

      Huntington's disease (HD) is a monogenic neurodegenerative disorder, which is characterized by the prevalent loss of GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSN) in the striatum. This poster summarizes the MSN intracellular signaling pathways implicated in the pathology of HD, as well as highlighting the use of iPSCs for HD modeling.

      Parkinson's

      Parkinson's Poster

      Parkinson's disease (PD) causes chronic disability and is the second most common neurodegenerative condition. This poster outlines the neurobiology of the disease, as well as highlighting current therapeutic treatments for symptomatic PD, and emerging therapeutic strategies to delay PD onset and progression.

      Programmed Cell Death

      Programmed Cell Death Poster

      There are two currently recognized forms of programmed cell death: apoptosis and necroptosis. This poster summarizes the signaling pathways involved in apoptosis, necroptosis and cell survival following death receptor activation, and highlights the influence of the molecular switch, cFLIP, on cell fate.

      Caspase Gene Data

      Gene Species Gene Symbol Gene Accession No. Protein Accession No.
      Cytokine Processing Caspases
      Caspase 1 Human CASP1 NM_033292 P29466
      Mouse Casp1 NM_009807 P29452
      Rat Casp1 NM_012762 Q91W32
      Caspase 4 Human CASP4 NM_001225 P49662
      Mouse Casp4 NM_007609 P70343
      Rat Casp4 NM_053736 Q3MHS1
      Caspase 5 Human CASP5 NM_004347 P51878
      Caspase 11 Human SFRS2IP NM_004719 Q99590
      Mouse Sfrs2ip NM_028148 NP_082424
      Rat Sfrs2ip XM_231361 XP_231361
      Caspase 12 Human CASP12 NR_000035 Q6UXS9
      Mouse Casp12 NM_009808 O08736
      Rat Casp12 NM_130422 Q920D5
      Caspase 14 Human CASP14 NM_012114 P31944
      Mouse Casp14 NM_009809 O89094
      Rat Casp14 XM_234878 XP_234878
      Apoptosis-Related Caspases
      Caspase 2 Human CASP2 NM_032982 P42575
      Mouse Casp2 NM_007610 P29594
      Rat Casp2 NM_022522 P55215
      Caspase 3 Human CASP3 NM_004346 P42574
      Mouse Casp3 NM_009810 P70677
      Rat Casp3 NM_012922 P55213
      Caspase 6 Human CASP6 NM_001226 P55212
      Mouse Casp6 NM_009811 O08738
      Rat Casp6 NM_031775 Q6AZ23
      Caspase 7 Human CASP7 NM_033338 P55210
      Mouse Casp7 NM_007611 P97864
      Rat Casp7 NM_022260 O88550
      Caspase 8 Human CASP8 NM_001228 Q96T22
      Mouse Casp8 NM_009812 O89110
      Rat Casp8 NM_022277 Q9JHX4
      Caspase 9 Human CASP9 NM_032996 P55211
      Mouse Casp9 NM_015733 NP_056548
      Rat Casp9 NM_031632 Q9JHK1
      Caspase 10 Human CASP10 NM_032977 Q92851