Caspases
A family of intracellular CYSTEINE ENDOPEPTIDASES that play a role in regulating INFLAMMATION and APOPTOSIS. They specifically cleave peptides at a CYSTEINE amino acid that follows an ASPARTIC ACID residue. Caspases are activated by proteolytic cleavage of a precursor form to yield large and small subunits that form the enzyme. Since the cleavage site within precursors matches the specificity of caspases, sequential activation of precursors by activated caspases can occur.
Year introduced: 1999
PubMed search builder options
Subheadings:
Tree Number(s): D08.811.277.656.262.500.126, D08.811.277.656.300.200.126, D12.776.476.075.405
MeSH Unique ID: D020169
Registry Number: EC 3.4.22.-
Entry Terms:
Previous Indexing:
See Also: