Caspase Inhibitors/Activators

Caspases are the family of cysteine aspartate-specific proteases that play a critical role in proteolytic execution, with significant roles in apoptosis, necrosis, cytokine maturation, inflammatory responses, cellular differentiation, and development.

Nº Cat. Nombre del producto Información Citas de uso del producto Validaciones del producto
S7775 Emricasan (IDN-6556) Emricasan (IDN-6556, PF 03491390, PF-03491390) es un potente inhibidor irreversible de la pan-caspase. Emricasan es un inhibidor de la infección por el virus del Zika.
PLoS Pathogens, February 11, 2026, e1013947
Journal of Virology, April 27, 2018, e00078-18
Adv Sci (Weinh), 2026, 13(23):e13317
S7023 Z-VAD-FMK Z-VAD-FMK (Z-VAD(OMe)-FMK) es un inhibidor pan-caspase irreversible y permeable a las células, que bloquea todas las características de la apoptosis en células THP.1 y linfocitos T Jurkat.
J Clin Invest, 2026, 136(4)e196536
Adv Sci (Weinh), 2026, 13(19):e11406
Cell Death Differ, 2026, 10.1038/s41418-026-01742-5 10.1038/s41571-023-00798-3 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-24-1607 10.1126/scitranslmed.abk2756 10.1038/s41580-024-00703-5 10.1038/s4
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S7311 Q-VD-Oph Q-VD-Oph (Quinoline-Val-Asp-Difluorophenoxymethylketone) es un potente inhibidor pan-caspase con un IC50 que oscila entre 25 y 400 nM para las caspasas 1,3,8 y 9. Q-VD-OPh puede inhibir la infección por HIV.
Nature, 2025, 10.1038/s41586-025-09754-w
Signal Transduct Target Ther, 2025, 10(1):368
Nat Immunol, 2025, 26(11):1946-1961
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S7312 Z-DEVD-FMK Z-DEVD-FMK (Caspase-3 Inhibitor) es un inhibidor específico e irreversible de la Caspase-3, y también muestra una potente inhibición sobre la caspase-6, la caspase-7, la caspase-8 y la caspase-10.
Int J Biol Sci, 2026, 22(4):1793-1806
Cell Death Discov, 2026, 12(1)167
Protein Cell, 2025, pwaf020
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S1029 CC-5013 (Lenalidomide) Lenalidomide es un inhibidor de la secreción de TNF-α con IC50 de 13 nM en PBMC. Lenalidomide (CC-5013) es un ligando de la ubiquitin E3 ligase cereblon (CRBN), y causa ubiquitilación y degradación selectiva de dos factores de transcripción linfoideos, IKZF1 e IKZF3, por la ubiquitin ligasa CRBN-CRL4. Lenalidomide promueve la expresión de la cleaved caspase-3 e inhibe la expresión de VEGF e induce la apoptosis.
Signal Transduct Target Ther, 2025, 10(1):29
Nat Commun, 2025, 16(1):3800
Cell Rep Med, 2025, S2666-3791(25)00102-8
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S9042 Wedelolactone Wedelolactone, un compuesto natural derivado de plantas medicinales, es un inhibidor de IKK que es crítico para la activación de NF-κB al mediar la fosforilación y degradación de IκBα. Este compuesto también es un inhibidor de la caspase-11.
Int J Ophthalmol, 2024, 17(4):616-624
PeerJ, 2022, 10:e13766
Exp Eye Res, 2021, 211:108750
S2768 Dinaciclib (SCH 727965) Dinaciclib es un novedoso y potente inhibidor de CDK para CDK2, CDK5, CDK1 y CDK9 con IC50 de 1 nM, 1 nM, 3 nM y 4 nM en ensayos sin células, respectivamente. También bloquea la incorporación de timidina (dThd) en el ADN. Dinaciclib induce apoptosis a través de la activación de Caspase 8 y 9. Fase 3.
Nat Genet, 2026, 58(5):1112-1125.
Cancer Cell, 2025, 43(4):776-796.e14
Mol Cell, 2025, S1097-2765(25)00042-5
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S2228 Belnacasan (VX-765) VX-765 (Belnacasan) es un potente y selectivo inhibidor de caspase-1 con una Ki de 0,8 nM en un ensayo sin células, y ha alcanzado la Fase 2.
Frontiers in Immunology, October 24, 2025, 1631152
Frontiers in Immunology, November 28, 2016, 536
Journal of Thoracic Disease, November 2019, 4816-4828
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S7314 Z-IETD-FMK Z-IETD-FMK (Caspase-8 Inhibitor, Z-IE(OMe)TD(OMe)-FMK) es un inhibidor específico de Caspase-8. Z-IETD-FMK es también un inhibidor de la granzima B.
Cancer Lett, 2026, 637:218120
Nature, 2025, 10.1038/s41586-024-08395-9
Cell Mol Immunol, 2025, 22(5):541-556
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S7901 Ac-DEVD-CHO Ac-DEVD-CHO (Caspase-3 Inhibitor I, N-Ac-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-CHO) es un potente inhibidor aldehído de las caspasas del Grupo II con valores de Ki de 0,2 nM y 0,3 nM para Caspase-3 y Caspase-7, respectivamente. Débil inhibición para Caspase-2.
J Virol, 2026, 100(5):e0210325
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2025, 122(12):e2426107122
Mater Today Bio, 2025, 34:102206
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Caspases can be traditionally divided into two groups based on their sequence homology and function. Caspase-1, -4 and -5 belong to Group I (inflammatory) caspases (caspase-1-related subfamily) that are involved in cytokine maturation and the innate immunity. The Group II caspases (caspase-3-related subgroup) are involved in the regulation of apoptosis, which are further divided into two types: initiators (apical caspases) that includes caspase-2, -8, -9, and -10, and effectors (executing caspases) such as caspase-3, -6 and 7. These caspases have distinct substrate cleavage specificities. To date, over 600 substrates for the cell death-related caspases have been identified. Effector caspases are constitutively produced in cells as dimmers, and the proteolytic processing into cleaved caspases by an initiator enzyme is required to trigger their activity. Being active, effector caspases target a wide spectrum of cellular proteins with the ultimate effect of causing cell death. In contrast to effector caspases, initiator caspases are translated as monomeric zymogens. Formation of multicomponent complexes triggers initiator caspase dimerization sufficient for their activation. Recently, a novel alternative perspective is proposed that mammalian caspases are activated, not to kill, but to extinguish the pro-inflammatory properties of dying cells. This perspective unifies the mammalian caspase family as either positive or negative regulators of inflammation. [1][2]

Caspase-1 subfamily members (caspase-1, -4, and -5) have been implicated as regulators of inflammation through processing and activating two related cytokines, IL-1β and IL-18. The initiator caspases are activated by upstream molecules through protein-protein interaction domains known as caspase recruitment domain (CARD) and death effector domain (DED). The death-inducing signaling complex (DISC), the Apaf-1 apoptosome and the p53-induced protein with a death domain (PIDD) are protein assembly platforms that can recruit caspase-8/-10, -9 and -2, respectively, confirming the essential roles of caspases in both the extrinsic receptor-mediated and intrinsic mitochondrial apoptosis pathways. Caspases are regulated at a post-translational level by inhibitors of apoptosis and by dominant negative isoforms. The proteolytic activity of mature caspase-9 and -3 are subdued by the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs). In turn, IAPs are inactivated and caspase activity restored by proteins, such as SMAC/Diablo or HtrA2/Omi, which are released from the mitochondria. The cellular FLICE inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) is a catalytically inactive homologue of caspase-8 and -10, which can prevent their activation by obstructing binding sites on the DISC. Hematopoietic stem cells express a smaller variant, caspase-8L, which acts as a dominant negative when recruited to DISC after CD95 triggering, thereby disrupting the link between CD95 and the caspase cascade. The pro-domain-only polypeptides of caspase-10 have been reported to be pro-apoptotic in some experimental systems, but appeared to be antiapoptotic and capable of inducing NF-κB activity in others. Moreover, either oncogenes (Myc) or tumor suppressors (p53) are able to adjust the intrinsic or the extrinsic caspase cascade involved in the complex signaling system controlling apoptosis. [1][2]

Cells do not necessarily undergo caspase-independent cell death in the absence of active caspases, but may instead survive insult and even promote clonogenic tumor growth. The loss of even one caspase-2 allele results in increased cell proliferation as well as accelerated tumorogenesis, and the loss of caspase-2 expression has been observed in gastric cancer. In a screen of primary breast tumor samples, approximately 75% of the tumors as well as morphologically normal peritumoral tissue samples lack caspase-3 transcripts and caspase-3 protein expression. Reduction of caspase-8 expression has been found in pediatric tumors, and colorectal, gastric, or hepatocellular cancers, as well as in clinical glioma samples. Downregulation of the mitochondrial IAP antagonist Smac/Diablo is associated with renal cell carcinomas, and overexpression of Survivin, another IAP, has been observed in most transformed cell lines and cancers. Caspase-3 and caspase-6 cleavage of Tau protein leads to neurofibrillary tangle formation during Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis. Moreover, accumulated caspase-6 cleavage-mediated huntingtin fragments represent an early pathological change in the brains of Huntington’s disease patients. Conversely, an increase in cell death is associated with heart disease, stroke, neurodegenerative disorders and liver disease. Additionally, abnormal fluctuations in cytokine levels as a result of the inflammatory response have been implicated in several diseases, including osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), gout, inflammatory bowel disorders, sepsis, and inflammatory skin diseases. Thus, the disturbances in the regulation of caspase activation are central for the avoidance of cell death, and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of many disorders including stroke, Alzheimer's disease, myocardial infarction, cancer, and inflammatory disease, which stimulates interest in caspases as potential therapeutic targets. Pralnacasan and VX-765 are reversible caspase-1 inhibitors that are developed for the treatment of a variety of inflammatory disorders disorders, including RA and OA. There is a large pool of inactive procaspase-3 in some cancer cells compared with normal cells, thus, targeting procaspase-3 directly with small molecule activators such as PAC-1 and 1541, rather than targeting upstream regulators of apoptosis could lead to a more effective and direct therapy as caspase-3 is the terminal protease in the apoptotic cascade. [1][3]