Apoptosis Happens

Thu, 04/17/2014 - 16:06

Cell death via apoptosis is a basic cellular function occurring through the cell death receptor family and their ligands which signal through downstream adaptor molecules and the caspase protease family. Caspases have a precursor form composed of a prodomain, and large and small catalytic subunit, and are activated through a cleavage adjacent to an aspartate to liberate units and allow formation of an a2b2 tetramer. Caspase 3 is a cytoplasmic caspase with two isoforms (one acts as a dominant negative inhibitor), and is involved in the activation cascade for apoptosis execution. Caspase 3 cleaves/activates SREBPs, Caspase 7, and Caspase 9. A Caspase 3 antibody was used by Berges and colleagues to assist in their detailed characterizations of downstream proteosome inhibition pathways by the inhibitor bortezomib in an activated T-cell system1.  Studies with a Caspase 3 antibody allowed Fuzio et al to study in vivo neoadjuvant Androgen Derivation Therapy (ADT) and its effects on TGF-beta expression and signaling in prostate cancer2.  Their data suggests that TGF-beta stimulates epithelial cell proliferation and blocks apoptosis in an autocrine loop.

Immunohistochemistry-Paraffin: Caspase 3 Antibody Immunohistochemistry-Paraffin: Caspase 3 Antibody

In exciting gene therapy studies from lysosomal storage disease (LSD) researchers in Tokyo, a Caspase 3 antibody enabled those researchers to validate the unique promise of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) as model systems for studying genetic LSD diseases3. Neurological studies out of Hermel’s group at the Buck Institute employed a Caspase 3 antibody in their autosomal dominant progressive disorder Huntington’s disease (HD) studies, where they were able to exclude the participation of caspases 3, 8, and 9 in selective death and pathogenesis in the neural striatum and cortex4.  Additionally, immunohistochemical studies with a Caspase 3 antibody were done in Herold’s group to allow the creation and validation of a novel extracorporeal perfusion bioreactor system using rat lingual skin folds5.

Novus Biologicals offers Caspase 3 reagents for your research needs including:


  1. 19735079
  2. 22269108
  3. 20385825
  4. 14713958
  5. 22223358

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