Description
Product Characteristics: Apoptosis occurs during normal cellular development and involves dramatic changes in cellular structure. Disruption of apoptosis may contribute to cancer and other diseases. Caspases are a family of cysteine proteases that are key mediators of programmed cell death or apoptosis. Caspase-2 has been called ICH-1 in human, CED-3 in C.elegans and NEDD-2 in mouse. Caspase-2 is synthesized as an inactive precursor that is processed in cells undergoing apoptosis. The precursor form of all caspases is composed of a pro-domain, and large and small catalytic subunits. The active forms of caspases are generated by several stimuli, including ligand-receptor interactions, growth factor deprivation and inhibitors of cellular functions. Caspase-2 is activated in vitro by caspase-1, caspase-3 and granzyme B. Caspase-2 functions as an upstream apoptosis initiator that participates in the activation of downstream caspases, such as caspase-3, caspase-6 and caspase-7. Caspase-2 is highly expressed in embryonic mouse brain but not in adult neural tissue. Alternative mRNA splicing produces a long (48 kDa) and short (35 kDa) form of caspase-2. These forms show tissue specificity and function either as inducers or suppressors of apoptosis. Mature caspase-2 is 435 amino acids in length cleaved (~50 kDa) and is cleaved upon activation into 10 and 20 kDa subunits.
Synonyms: Apoptosis related cysteine peptidase antibody, CASP 2 antibody, Casp 2L Pro antibody, CASP2 antibody, Caspase 2 apoptosis related cysteine protease antibody, Caspase2 antibody, Developmentally down regulated 2 antibody, ICH 1 antibody
Target Information: This gene encodes a member of the cysteine-aspartic acid protease (caspase) family. Caspases mediate cellular apoptosis through the proteolytic cleavage of specific protein substrates. The encoded protein may function in stress-induced cell death pathways, cell cycle maintenance, and the suppression of tumorigenesis. Increased expression of this gene may play a role in neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and temporal lobe epilepsy. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding multiple isoforms have been observed for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jan 2011]