title: Measuring caspase activity in vivo.
abstract: Caspases are a family of integral proteases playing a role in apoptosis. The importance of apoptosis in disease has made these proteases not only an attractive drug target but also a focal point for measuring apoptosis in vivo. The critical role caspases play in determining cell death has led to the development of a wide array of technologies to measure caspase activity in vivo, ranging from small molecule PET imaging reagents to fluorescent and luminescent protein-based reporters used in whole animal and cell-based applications. This chapter reviews this wide range of technologies available as well as the most appropriate applications for each reagent and the mechanism of how it measures caspase activity in vivo.
authors: MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
authors: Samantha B
authors: SB
authors: Nicholls
authors: MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neurology, Alzheimer's Disease Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA. Electronic address: bhyman@partners.org.
authors: Bradley T
authors: BT
authors: Hyman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D020169:Caspases / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D057075:Enzyme Assays / Q000379:methods; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / Q000379:methods; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000032:analysis; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D020169:Caspases
keywords: Apoptosis; Caspase; FRET; GFP; Luciferase