Definitions for caspase
cas·pase

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. caspasenoun

   any of a group of proteases that mediate apoptosis

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. caspasenoun

   Any of several intracellular proteolytic enzymes that mediate apoptosis

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Caspase

   Caspases (cysteine-aspartic proteases, cysteine aspartases or cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases) are a family of protease enzymes playing essential roles in programmed cell death. They are named caspases due to their specific cysteine protease activity – a cysteine in its active site nucleophilically attacks and cleaves a target protein only after an aspartic acid residue. As of 2009, there are 12 confirmed caspases in humans and 10 in mice, carrying out a variety of cellular functions. The role of these enzymes in programmed cell death was first identified in 1993, with their functions in apoptosis well characterised. This is a form of programmed cell death, occurring widely during development, and throughout life to maintain cell homeostasis. Activation of caspases ensures that the cellular components are degraded in a controlled manner, carrying out cell death with minimal effect on surrounding tissues.Caspases have other identified roles in programmed cell death such as pyroptosis, necroptosis and PANoptosis. These forms of cell death are important for protecting an organism from stress signals and pathogenic attack. Caspases also have a role in inflammation, whereby it directly processes pro-inflammatory cytokines such as pro-IL1β. These are signalling molecules that allow recruitment of immune cells to an infected cell or tissue. There are other identified roles of caspases such as cell proliferation, tumour suppression, cell differentiation, neural development and axon guidance and ageing.Caspase deficiency has been identified as a cause of tumour development. Tumour growth can occur by a combination of factors, including a mutation in a cell cycle gene which removes the restraints on cell growth, combined with mutations in apoptotic proteins such as caspases that would respond by inducing cell death in abnormally growing cells. Conversely, over-activation of some caspases such as caspase-3 can lead to excessive programmed cell death. This is seen in several neurodegenerative diseases where neural cells are lost, such as Alzheimer's disease. Caspases involved with processing inflammatory signals are also implicated in disease. Insufficient activation of these caspases can increase an organism's susceptibility to infection, as an appropriate immune response may not be activated. The integral role caspases play in cell death and disease has led to research on using caspases as a drug target. For example, inflammatory caspase-1 has been implicated in causing autoimmune diseases; drugs blocking the activation of Caspase-1 have been used to improve the health of patients. Additionally, scientists have used caspases as cancer therapy to kill unwanted cells in tumours.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. caspase

   Caspase is a family of protease enzymes that play essential roles in programmed cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis. They also have functions outside of cell death such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and inflammation processes. These enzymes are usually involved in initiating and executing the cell death pathways.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Caspase

   Caspases, or cysteine-aspartic proteases or cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases are a family of cysteine proteases that play essential roles in apoptosis, necrosis, and inflammation. Caspases are essential in cells for apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in development and most other stages of adult life, and have been termed "executioner" proteins for their roles in the cell. Some caspases are also required in the immune system for the maturation of lymphocytes. Failure of apoptosis is one of the main contributions to tumour development and autoimmune diseases; this, coupled with the unwanted apoptosis that occurs with ischemia or Alzheimer's disease, has stimulated interest in caspases as potential therapeutic targets since they were discovered in the mid-1990s.

Matched Categories

1. • Protease

How to pronounce caspase?

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Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of caspase in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of caspase in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

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References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=caspase
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Caspase
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspase
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=caspase