Inflammatory caspases play a key role in the innate immune response. In humans, there are three inflammatory caspases, whose individual roles in the production of an inflammatory response are not well understood. To differentiate the action of each enzyme in a cellular environment, we are developing selective fluorogenic peptide substrates. This requires both the peptide sequence and the fluorophore pair employed to be unique. Fluorophores will ideally be bright, with fluorescence signals that are easily differentiable from one another and cellular autofluorescence. We have compared the properties of commercially available fluorophores incorporated as side chains of amino acids to work toward the goal of identifying multiple, unique dye molecules that can be put to use in peptide substrates for this family of enzymes. Our results indicate that although more than one fluorophore can be successfully employed in these assays, the low signal-to-noise ratio obtained in some cases will necessitate the use of non-standard dye molecules.

Fluorophore comparison for peptide substrates used in inflammatory caspase activity assays

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.