The observation that the nematode cell death effector gene product Ced-3 is homologous to
human interleukin-1β-converting enzyme (caspase-1) has led to the discovery of at least
nine other human caspases, many of which are implicated as mediators of apoptosis.
Significant interest has been given to aspects of the cell biology and substrate specificity of
this family of proteases; however, quantitative descriptions of their biochemical
characteristics have lagged behind. We describe the influence of a number of environmental …