title: Some natural flavonoids are competitive inhibitors of Caspase-1, -3 and -7 despite their cellular toxicity.
abstract: A common feature of both apoptosis and inflammation is the activation of caspases. Caspases are aspartate-directed cysteine proteases that have numerous cellular targets. It has been discovered that several flavonoids are inhibitors of caspases. Flavonoids are members of a family of polyphenolic compounds from plants that have many biological properties, one of which is the ability to induce cell death. Some flavonoids are selective inhibitors of particular caspases. Since some of the inhibitory flavonoids are nevertheless cytotoxic, these results suggest that flavonoid-induced cell death may be occurring through a non-classical apoptosis pathway that is not dependent on caspase activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, San José State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0100.
authors.forename: J Brandon
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beckford
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yadegarynia
authors.forename: Nhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ngo
authors.forename: Tetiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lialiutska
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: d'Alarcao