Caspase-2 Antibody [11B4]

Background:

Caspase-2 is a Class I caspase with a long prodomain necessary for nuclear localization. Upon activation of the apoptotic pathway, the procaspase is cleaved into smaller fragments. Caspase-2 is the nuclear apoptotic respondent to cellular genotoxic stress or mitotic catastrophe and is involved in the activation cascade of caspases responsible for apoptosis execution. Activation occurs upon recruitment to a complex containing a p53-induced death domain protein, PIDD. This suggests caspase-2 can be a nuclear initiator caspase with a requirement for caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation in downstream apoptotic events. In apoptotic pathways resulting from UV-induced DNA damage, processing of caspase-2 occurs downstream of mitochondrial dysfunction and of caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, extending a possible role for caspase-2 as a parallel effector caspase.