Caspase-12 Antibody

Caspase-12 is an enzyme known as a cysteine protease. It belongs to a family of enzymes called caspases that cleave their substrates at C-terminal aspartic acid residues. The CASP12 gene was mapped to chromosome 11q22.3. Caspase-12 attenuates the inflammatory and innate immune response to endotoxins and in doing so may constitute a risk factor for developing sepsis. The estrogen-mediated inhibition of its expression is a built-in mechanism that has evolved to protect females from infection by favoring a more robust inflammatory response to pathogens, perhaps notably in childbirth.