The cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody is a marker of Caspase-9-like DRONC activity in Drosophila.
The cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody is a popular tool in apoptosis research in Drosophila. As the antibody was raised against cleaved human Caspase-3, it was assumed that it detects cleaved DRICE and DCP-1, Caspase-3-like effector caspases in Drosophila. However, as shown here, strong immunoreactivity persists in apoptotic models doubly mutant for drICE and dcp-1. In contrast, mutants of the apoptosome components DRONC (Caspase-9-like) and ARK (Apaf-1 related) do not label with the cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody. By peptide blocking experiments and further genetic studies, we provide evidence that the cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody recognizes multiple proteins including DCP-1 and likely DRICE, but also at least one additional unknown protein, all of which require DRONC for epitope exposure. The unknown substrate may be involved in non-apoptotic functions of DRONC. Because the cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody not only detects cleaved Caspase-3-like proteins in Drosophila, but also other proteins in a DRONC-dependent manner, it is more accurate to consider the cleaved-Caspase-3 antibody as a marker for DRONC activity, rather than effector caspase activity.
Fan
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Y
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Graduate Program in Genes and Development, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard-Unit 1000, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Bergmann
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A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism*; D000939:Epitopes; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D015415:Biomarkers; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D000939:Epitopes; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases; C103568:Dcp-1 protein, Drosophila; C109171:drICE protein, Drosophila; C118731:dronc protein, Drosophila