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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
08:16
In Vitro Cleavage Assays using Purified Recombinant Drosophila Caspases for Substrate Screening
Published on: October 6, 2022
Expression, purification, and characterization of caspases
Jean-Bernard Denault1, Guy S Salvesen1
1The Burnham Institute, La Jolla, California.
Current Protocols in Protein Science
|April 23, 2008
Abstract:
This unit describes a protocol to obtain milligram amounts of enzymatically active pure recombinant caspases. Specific details for the expression, purification of caspase-3, -6, -7, -8, -9 and -10 are discussed along with strategies to obtain particular forms (e.g., the zymogen) of some of them.
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01:24Caspases
Caspase, a family of cysteine proteases, serve as effectors in apoptosis. The ced3 gene in C.elegans was first identified to be involved in apoptosis. This gene encodes the ced-3 caspase that is similar to the interleukin-1-beta converting enzyme or ICE in mammals. In addition to apoptosis, caspases also function in the inflammatory response. Inflammatory caspases are essential in activating pro-inflammatory cytokines that recruit immune cells and block the replication of pathogens inside cells.
01:17The Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
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