DEVD

DEVD is an acronym that can refer to different things in different fields. In biochemistry and molecular biology, DEVD denotes a tetrapeptide sequence composed of aspartic acid (D), glutamic acid (E), valine (V), and aspartic acid (D). This DEVD motif is a preferred recognition site for executioner caspases, particularly caspase-3 and caspase-7, and is widely used in assays to measure caspase activity and apoptotic progression. Substrates containing the DEVD sequence, such as DEVD-pNA or DEVD-AMC, release a detectable chromophore or fluorophore upon cleavage, enabling laboratory quantification of apoptosis in cells or tissue samples.

In computing, devd refers to a device daemon in some Unix-like operating systems (notably FreeBSD and related derivatives) that monitors and responds to dynamic hardware events. The daemon listens for kernel notifications about device addition, removal, or changes and can trigger scripts, logging, or reconfiguration actions. In documentation or shorthand, the term DEVD may appear as an acronym, but it is more commonly written as devd in lowercase, with capitalization varying by project.

Context determines which meaning applies; without context, DEVD can refer to either the biochemical motif or the system daemon, among other niche usages.