| Overview | Apoptosisisanevolutionarilyconservedformofcellsuicide,whichfollowsaspecializedcellularprocess.Thecentralcomponentofthisprocessisacascadeofproteolyticenzymescalledcaspases.Theseenzymesparticipateinaseriesofreactionsthataretriggeredinresponsetopro-apoptoticsignalsandresultinthecleavageofproteinsubstrates,causingthedisassemblyofthecell(Sleeetal.1999). 
 CaspaseshavebeenidentifiedinorganismsrangingfromC.eleganstohumans.Themammaliancaspasesplaydistinctrolesinapoptosisandinflammation.Inapoptosis,caspasesareresponsIBLeforproteolyticcleavagesthatleadtocelldisassembly(effectorcaspases),andareinvolvedinupstreamregulatoryevents(initiatorcaspases).Anactivecaspaseconsistsoftwolargeandtwosmallsubunitsthatformtwoheterodimerswhichassociateinatetramer(Walkeretal.1994;Wilsonetal.1994;Rotondaetal.1996).Incommonwithotherproteases,caspasesaresynthesizedasprecursorsthatundergoproteolyticmaturation,eitherautocatalyticallyorinacascadebyenzymeswithsimilarspecificity(Kumar1999).
 
 Caspaseenzymesspecificallyrecognizea4or5aminoacidsequenceonthetargetsubstratewhichnecessarilyincludesanasparticacidresidue.Thisresidueisthetargetforcleavage,whichoccursatthecarbonylendoftheasparticacidresidue(Thornberryetal.1997).Caspasescanbedetectedviaimmunoprecipitation,immunoblottingtechniquesusingcaspasespecificantibodies,orbyemployingFluorochromesubstrateswhichbecomefluorescentuponcleavagebythecaspase.
 
 TestPrinciple:
 
 CHEMICON"sInSituCaspaseDetectionKitsuseanovelapproachtodetectactivecaspases.ThemethodologyisbasedonFluorochromeInhibitorsofCaspases(FLICA).Theinhibitorsarecellpermeableandnon-cytotoxic.Onceinsidethecell,theinhibitorbindscovalentlytotheactivecaspase(Ekertetal.1999).Thiskitusesacarboxyfluorescein-labeledfluoromethylketonepeptideinhibitorofcaspase(FAM-VAD-FMK),whichproducesagreenfluorescence.Whenaddedtoapopulationofcells,theFAM-VAD-FMKprobeenterseachcellandcovalentlybindstoareactivecysteineresiduethatresidesonthelargesubunitoftheactivecaspaseheterodimer,therebyinhibitingfurtherenzymaticactivity.Theboundlabeledreagentisretainedwithinthecell,whileanyunboundreagentwilldiffuseoutofthecellandiswashedaway.Thegreenfluorescentsignalisadirectmeasureoftheamountofactivecaspasepresentinthecellatthetimethereagentwasadded.Cellsthatcontaintheboundlabeledreagentcanbeanalyzedby96-wellplate-basedfluorometry,fluorescencemicroscopy,orflowcytometry.
 
 Application:
 
 TheCHEMICONInSituFLICAPan-CaspaseDetectionKitisafluorescent-basedassayfordetectionofactivecaspasesincellsundergoingapoptosis.Thekitisforresearchuseonly.Notforuseindiagnosticortherapeuticprocedures.
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