Does necroptosis require caspase 8?

These observations indicate that the enzymatic activity of caspase-8 is required to inhibit necroptosis at early stages of embryonic development (E9–E12) that involve the formation of the cardiovascular system and placenta.

What is zVAD?

zVAD-fmk (zVAD) is a well-established general caspase inhibitor to block apoptosis. Intriguingly, zVAD is also capable of efficiently inducing necrotic cell death in a selected group of cell types, particularly in L929 cells.

What is pan caspase?

Pan-caspase inhibitors act on one or more of the known caspases and are pursued for their ability to treat diseases such as autoimmune disorders and cancer. Pan-caspase inhibitors can either be peptides, proteins, or small molecule inhibitors.

How can caspases be inhibited?

The activated caspases are subject to inhibition by the inhibitor-of-apoptosis (IAP) family of proteins. This inhibition can be effectively removed by diverse proteins that share an IAP-binding tetrapeptide motif.

How does Z-VAD-fmk inhibit murine caspases?

It also inhibits murine caspases, notably caspase-1, caspase-3, and caspase-11, the ortholog of human caspase-4 and -5 [4, 5]. Caspases are a family of cysteine proteases that are centrally involved in cell death and inflammation responses [6, 7]. Z-VAD-FMK inhibits caspases by irreversibly binding to their catalytic site [1].

Does in vivo Z-VAD-fmk administration prevent apoptosis in animal models?

Z-VAD-FMK was used as a positive control. Bars represent means ± sem of pooled results from 3 experiments performed in triplicate at different times. In vivo Z-VAD-FMK administration has been shown previously to be nontoxic and to prevent apoptosis in animal models.

Is Z-VAD-fmk an effective broad-spectrum inhibitor?

Interestingly, It has been shown that Z-VAD‑FMK administration can significantly reduce inflammation and lethality in an experimental model of endotoxic shock [5]. To conclude, this broad-spectrum inhibitor is a useful tool for studying the role of caspases in inflammation and cell death. 1. Slee EA. et al., 1996.