Abstract 2383 Comparison of kinetic parameters of caspase-substrate reactions for selectivity analysis

Human inflammatory caspases-1, -4, and -5 are aspartate-directed cysteine proteases that are involved in the innate immune response. An in vitro Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based assay has been developed in order to differentiate the roles of individual caspases in inflammatory pathways and aid in the development of selective caspase substrates and inhibitors. The FRET-based assay allows measured fluorescence intensities to be used to determine the rate of caspase activity on peptide substrates, as the cleavage process separates the donor and acceptor chromophores, causing an increase in donor fluorescence signal.