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Caspases

Caspases

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.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Lighting Up the Pathways to Caspase Activation Using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation

Lighting Up the Pathways to Caspase Activation Using Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation

Published on: March 5, 2018

Small-molecule procaspase activators identified using fluorescence polarization.

Chris J Vickers¹, Gonzalo E González-Páez, Jeffrey C Umotoy

¹Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine and Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.

Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology

|July 10, 2013

Summary

Researchers developed novel small molecules that activate proteins, specifically procaspase activators. This discovery offers new chemical tools for studying caspase biology and protein functions.

Keywords:

activators apoptosis caspases high-throughput screening zymogens

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Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Chemical Biology

Background:

Small molecules that directly activate proteins are rare, limiting research into protein functions.
Existing drug discovery often focuses on enzyme inhibition, neglecting activation pathways.
Understanding protein activation is crucial for developing novel therapeutics and research tools.

Purpose of the Study:

To discover and characterize novel small molecules that directly activate proteins.
To develop chemical tools for probing caspase biology and function.
To address the imbalance between enzyme inhibition and activation research.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of a series of small molecules.
Screening and characterization of procaspase-activating compounds.
Utilizing these compounds as chemical probes in biological assays.

Main Results:

Identification of a novel series of procaspase activators.
Demonstration of these molecules as effective chemical tools for studying caspase activation.
Expansion of the toolkit for investigating protein target mechanisms.

Conclusions:

Direct protein activators, exemplified by procaspase activators, are valuable tools.
This work provides new chemical probes for advancing caspase biology research.
The discovery opens new avenues for drug development targeting protein activation pathways.