caspase37

Caspase-37, or CASP37, is not a standard or widely recognized member of the caspase family in humans or model organisms. In the human genome, current nomenclature lists caspases CASP1 through CASP14, with confirmed roles in apoptosis and inflammation. Some databases or publications may reference CASP37 as a predicted, uncharacterized, or erroneous entry, but it is not established as an ortholog or paralog with validated expression or function.

Caspases are cysteine-aspartic proteases that execute or regulate cell death and immune signaling. They share a catalytic dyad and are produced as zymogens that are activated by proteolytic cleavage. Initiator caspases (such as CASP8, CASP9) typically contain long prodomains; executioners (such as CASP3, CASP7) have short prodomains. However, there is no verified information on a CASP37 protein, including its expression pattern, substrate specificity, tissue distribution, or regulatory partners.

In research contexts, if CASP37 appears in a dataset, it should be treated as provisional. Verification against primary databases and cross-species analyses is advised. Absent validated evidence, CASP37 is considered not to be a defined caspase member in the standard caspase family.