Caspase Activity
Caspases play important roles in apoptosis and cell signaling
Apoptosis is a programmed, cell-autonomous death process. It plays important roles in a variety of physiological and pathological events1 , ranging from normal fetal development to diseases, such as cancer2 , organ failure and neurodegenerative diseases. During apoptosis, caspases execute the disassembly of the cellular components by proteolytic cleavage of a variety of substrates, such as poly-(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP)3 , DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), topoisomerases, and protein kinase C (PKC)δ. 4 At least ten caspases have been discovered. Some of caspases identify and cleave a specific peptide substrate, while others recognize the same peptide substrate4 .
References
1. Thornberry, N. A. et al. Science 281, 1312-1316 (1998).
2. Reed, J. C. J. Clin. Oncol. 17, 2941-2953 (1999).
3. Lazebnik, Y. A. et al. Nature 371, 346-347 (1994).
4. Villa, P. et al. Trends Biochem. Sci. 22, 388-393 (1997).
Assay Kits for caspase activity monitoring and inhibitors screening
Our Sensolyte® Caspase assay kits use fluorogenic substrates, where the sequence-specific for one or several caspases is conjugated to AFC, AMC or Rh110. Upon protease cleavage, the fluorescence is released proportionally to the caspase activity.
| Dye (donor) | Donor Ex/Em | |
| SensoLyte® AMC | AMC |
•
351/430 nm |
|---|---|---|
| SensoLyte® AFC | AFC |
•
382/480 nm |
| SensoLyte® Rh110 | Rh110 |
•
501/527 nm |
The profiling kits contain two 96-well plates (8x12 strips) coated with eight well-known substrates for various caspases, while the Substrate sample kits contain the same peptides, but in bulk.
Two series of 8 peptides are available
| 8 peptides conjugated with AFC | 8 peptides conjugated with AMC |
|
References : AS-71116; AS-71117 SB1 Caspase-1 substrate Ac-YVAD-AFC |
References : AS-71120; AS-71121 SB1 Caspase-1 substrate Ac-YEVD-AMC |