In a previous post, I discussed Caspases as pharmaceutical targets – how to screen for inhibitors?
Today I would like to concentrate on Caspase inhibitors/modulators, which allow for in-depth characterisation of your enzyme of interest and which can serve as reference compounds in caspase inhibitor screenings. A short recap: Caspases (Cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases) belong to the family of cysteine proteases and are involved in networks controlling cell death (apoptosis and necrosis) and inflammation. Amongst the 12 known human caspases, 5 have been described as playing a crucial role in apoptosis (Caspase-3, -6, -7, -8, and -9), 4 have been linked to processes in inflammation (Caspase-1, -4, -5, and -12), and 3 (Caspase-2, -10, and -14) could not yet be exactly classified concerning their functions.
Selective Caspase modulators and inhibitors
A number of caspase modulators (often small peptides which inhibit caspases in a competitive manner) are specific for certain caspases. Thus they can be used, for example, to selectively shut down a caspase and the downstream impact of this inhibition on the pathway the caspase of interest is involved in.
Specific modulators are available for:
Multi- and Pan-Caspase modulators and inhibitors
Another set of modulators impacts the activity of either a set of caspases (multi-caspase modulators) or all known caspases (pan-caspase modulators).
You can choose among the following options:
- Caspases 1, 3, 4, 7
- Caspases 1, 3, 8, 9
- Caspases 3, 7
Pan Caspase inhibitor Z-Asp-CH2-DCB - Caspases 3, 8, 9
- Pan-Caspase
If you need further information about the variety of available modulators, inhibitors, activators… of caspases or any other enzyme class, get in touch with me through the form below.
P.S.: You might be interested in this post which is about a set of compounds allowing you to differentiate between the diverse modes of programmed cell death: Apoptosis, Autophagy, Necroptosis, and Ferroptosis.
