title: Small Molecule Active Site Directed Tools for Studying Human Caspases.
abstract: Caspases are proteases of clan CD and were described for the first time more than two decades ago. They play critical roles in the control of regulated cell death pathways including apoptosis and inflammation. Due to their involvement in the development of various diseases like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, or autoimmune disorders, caspases have been intensively investigated as potential drug targets, both in academic and industrial laboratories. This review presents a thorough, deep, and systematic assessment of all technologies developed over the years for the investigation of caspase activity and specificity using substrates and inhibitors, as well as activity based probes, which in recent years have attracted considerable interest due to their usefulness in the investigation of biological functions of this family of enzymes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology , Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poreba
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology , Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szalek
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology , Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Paulina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kasperkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology , Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Wioletta
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rut
authors.affiliation: Program in Cell Death and Survival Networks, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute , La Jolla, California 92037, United States.
authors.forename: Guy S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Salvesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Technology , Wyb. Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drag
mesh_terms: D061945:Caspase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D020134:Catalytic Domain / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D020169:Caspases