Caspase-6 Inhibitor Drug Screening Kit (Fluorometric)

Caspases (Cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases) are a family of cysteine proteases that play important roles in apoptosis, inflammation and necrosis. Sequential activation of caspases plays an important role in cell apoptosis. Inhibition of caspases can delay apoptosis, indicating a potential role in drug screening efforts. Caspase-6 is a member of the caspase family. Caspase-6 is processed by caspases 7, 8 and 10, and can also undergo self-processing. Caspase-6 acts as a downstream enzyme in the caspase activation cascade and interacts with Caspase 8.

The Caspase-6 Inhibitor Drug Screening Kit (Fluorometric) provides a simple, fast and convenient way for screening of caspase-6 inhibitors based on fluorometric method. The synthetic peptide substrate VEID-AFC (AFC: 7-amino-4-trifluoromethyl coumarin) emits blue light (λmax = 400 nm). While cleavage of VEID-AFC by active caspase-6, free AFC emits a yellow-green fluorescence (λmax = 505 nm) that can be quantified by a fluorecence microtiter plate reader or a fluorometer. Inhibitors can be directly added to the reaction and the efficacy of inhibition of caspase-6 activity can be determined by comparison of the fluorescence intensity in samples without and with the testing inhibitors.