Background of the antigen
Caspase 2 has a positive and a negative role in the regulation of the apoptotic process. Overexpression of the full length Caspase 2 (Nedd2/Ich1) mRNA in some cell types results in apoptosis, whereas overexpression of an alternative Caspase 2 splice variant suppresses apoptosis induced by serum withdrawal. Caspase 2 may be activated in vitro by Caspase 1, Caspase 3 and the neutral serine protease granzyme B which is stored in the specialized lytic granules of cytotoxic lymphocytes.