Cathepsin D Activity Fluorometric Assay Kit

Apoptosis is often mediated by the traditional caspase-mediated cleavage cascade. In addition, alternative proteolytic enzymes such as the lysosomal cathepsin proteases can also initiate or propagate proapoptotic signals. Cathepsins are lysosomal proteases that play an important role in mammalian cellular turnover such as bone resorption. Cathepsins are often used as sensitive markers in a variety of toxicological investigations. Cathepsin D is a lysosomal aspartyl protease belonging to the peptidase A1 family and is used as a marker of breast cancer tumor.

 The Cathepsin D Activity Fluorometric Assay Kit provides a sensitive, simple and convenient way for detection of cathepsin D activity based on fluorometric method. The assay utilizes the preferred cathepsin-D substrate sequence GKPILFFRLK(Dnp)-D-R-NH2 labeled with MCA. While cleavage of the synthetic substrate by cathepsin-D in cell lysates or other samples, the released fluorescence (Ex/Em = 328/460 nm) can be easily quantified using a fluorecence microtiter plate reader or a fluorometer.