Caspase-3

The caspases are a family of cysteine proteases that cleave after certain aspartate residues, and are primarily recognized as mediators of apoptosis. caspases are synthesized as inactive zymogens that can be cleaved to form active enzymes following the induction of apoptosis by stress or death receptors. Initiator caspases (e.g. caspase-8 and -10) are activated by dimerization of the zymogen on a dedicated adaptor protein. These activated initiator caspases in-turn cleave downstream effector or executioner caspases (e.g. caspase-3, -6, and -7) in a cascade-like manner, which cleave key cellular...