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Abstract for CaspACE™ Assay System, Fluorometric
The CaspACE™ Assay System, Fluorometric, provides reagents for
measuring the activity of the Caspase, or Interleukin-1β-Converting Enzyme
(ICE/CED-3), family of cysteine aspartic acid-specific proteases. These
proteases have been shown to play key roles in inflammation and apoptosis in
mammalian cells. The CaspACE™ Assay System provides fluorogenic
substrates and inhibitors that allow highly sensitive, quantitative measurement
of both ICE (Caspase-1) and CPP32
(Caspase-3) protease activities. The use of
the two selective substrates and inhibitors provided allows discrimination
between ICE and CPP32 activities. This assay system may be used with purified
enzyme preparations or cell extracts and can also be adapted for use in high
throughput systems.
Activation of caspases occurs as a result of growth factor withdrawal,
exposure to radiation or chemotherapeutic agents, or initiation of the Fas/Apo-1
receptor-mediated cell death process. Active caspases participate in a cascade
of cleavage events, which disable key homeostatic and repair enzymes and bring
about systematic structural disassembly of dying cells. The biological
substrates of caspases include poly-(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP),
DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), lamins, topoisomerases, Gas2, protein
kinase C (PKC)delta, sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBP),
U1-70kDa protein and Huntingtin protein.
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