Caspases play significant roles in both inflammation and apoptosis. Caspases e, Xenopus/Amphibian,hibit catalytic and substrate recognition motifs that have been highly conserved. These characteristic amino acid sequences allow caspases to interact with both positive and negative regulators of their activity. The
substrate preferences or specificities of individual caspases have been e, Xenopus/Amphibian,ploited for the development of peptides that successfully compete for caspase binding. DEVD-FMK is a potent inhibitor of caspase-3.