Description
Caspase-3 is an enzyme which interacts with Survivin, XIAP, CFLAR, CASP8, HCLS1, Deleted in Colorectal Cancer, TRAF3 and GroEL. This gene which is located on 4q35 encodes a protein that is a member of the cysteine-aspartic acid protease family. Sequential activation of caspases plays a central role in the execution-phase of cell apoptosis. They exist as inactive proenzymes that undergo proteolytic processing at conserved aspartic residues to produce two subunits, large and small, that dimerize to form the active enzyme. CASP3 is the predominant cysteine-aspartic acid protease involved in the cleavage of amyloid-beta 4A precursor protein, which is associated with neuronal death in Alzheimers disease. And protein activation in heart failure sequentially cleaves SRF and generates a truncated SRF that appears to function as a dominant-negative transcription factor. Additionally, the proteins influence on bone mineral density should be considered in any in vivo application of Caspase-3 inhibitors to the treatment of human disease. In erythroid precursors undergoing terminal differentiation, Hsp70 prevents active CASP3 from cleaving GATA1 and inducing apoptosis