title: Measurement of caspase activity in cells undergoing apoptosis.
abstract: Cysteine proteases of the caspase family play key roles in the execution of apoptosis and in the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines. During apoptosis signaling, the latent forms of caspase precursors undergo rapid proteolytic processing and activation. Thus, the measurement of caspase activation provides a quick and convenient mean to assess apoptosis. This chapter outlines the various commonly used assays for determining caspase activity in cultured cells or tissue extracts.
authors.affiliation: Hanson Institute, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciene and Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D020169:Caspases