We at Novus Biologicals are one of the leading antibody suppliers for products targeted to apoptosis. These products are regularly used by cancer research groups - apoptosis is fundamental to developing therapies that will kill tumor cells. Caspase proteins, which play a key role in apoptosis, are therefore regularly featured in our antibody catalog.
The caspases collectively belong to the cysteine protease enzyme family, and exist normally in an inactive state, until activated. They can be divided into three groups: initiator caspases, effector caspases and cytokine processors. Initiators are the first to be activated. They then cleave the effectors, which in turn cleave and activate apoptosis-promoting proteins. The cytokine processors (CPs) are a specialized group which play a role in the inflammatory response by activating pro-inflammatory cytokine proteins. They include Caspase 1, Caspase 4, Caspase 5, Caspase 11, Caspase 12, Caspase 13, and Caspase 14.
Caspases are widely used as biomarker proteins, owing to the number of ways in which they can be activated and the morphological changes they promote within the cell. These include DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, plasma membrane blebbing and cell shrinkage. They have recently become important tools for cancer research.
Biomarker antibodies have been used in cancer research for some time. They are used to identify primary tumor cell proteins, track metastasis and analyze molecular alterations such as changes in up/down regulation of apoptosis proteins and unwarranted inflammatory responses. Caspase biomarkers are therefore an important oncological tool.
Recent studies suggest Caspase 1 could be a useful cancer biomarker. Antibody assays have shown it expressed in certain colon carcinomas, and localized at TAM (Tyrosine, Axl and Mer) receptors in others. We at Novus Biologicals anticipate that our new Capsase antibodies will be important to cancer research in the future.
-Western%20Blot-NBP1-96553-img0003.jpg "Western Blot: Caspase 1 Antibody")
Western Blot: Caspase 1 Antibody
Novus Biologicals offers many Caspase reagents for your research needs including:
