Caspase-3 Inhibitor Drug Screening Kit (Fluorometric)

Caspases (Cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases) are a family of cysteine proteases that play important roles in apoptosis, inflammation and necrosis. Sequential activation of caspases plays an important role in cell apoptosis. Inhibition of caspases can delay apoptosis, indicating a potential role in drug screening efforts. Caspase-3 is a caspase protein that cleaves and activates caspases 6 and 7, and is processed and activated by caspases 8, 9, and 10. Caspase-3 is the predominant caspase that is involved in the cleavage of amyloid-beta 4A precursor protein, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease. Caspase-3 recognizes tetra-peptide sequences D-x-x-D and hydrolyzes peptide bonds after aspartic acid residues.   

 Caspase-3 Inhibitor Drug Screening Kit (Fluorometric) provides a simple, fast and convenient way for screening of caspase-3 inhibitors based on fluorometric method. The synthetic peptide substrate DEVD-AFC (AFC: 7-amino-4-trifluoromethyl coumarin) emits blue light (λmax = 400 nm). While cleavage of DEVD-AFC by active caspase-3, free AFC emits a yellow-green fluorescence (λmax = 505 nm) that can be quantified by a fluorecence microtiter plate reader or a fluorometer. Inhibitors can be directly added to the reaction and the efficacy of inhibition of caspase-3 activity can be determined by comparison of the fluorescence intensity in samples without and with the testing inhibitors.