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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Measuring Caspase Activity Using a Fluorometric Assay or Flow Cytometry
Published on: March 24, 2023
YCA1 participates in the acetic acid induced yeast programmed cell death also in a manner unrelated to its
Nicoletta Guaragnella1, Clara Pereira, Maria João Sousa
1CNR, Istituto di Biomembrane e Bioenergetica, I-70126 Bari, Italy.
Abstract:
Yeast cells lacking the metacaspase-encoding gene YCA1 (Deltayca1) were compared with wild-type (WT) cells with respect to the occurrence, nature and time course of acetic-acid triggered death. We show that Deltayca1 cells undergo programmed cell death (PCD) with a rate lower than that of the WT and that PCD in WT cells is caused at least in part by the caspase activity of Yca1p. Since in Deltayca1 cells this effect is lost, but z-VAD-fmk does not prevent both WT and Deltayca1 cell death, PCD in WT cells occurs via a Yca1p caspase and a non-caspase route with similar characteristics.
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