Sarath, Gautam

Abstract Peptidases have continued to receive significant attention in the last decade. Although some novel means to assay these enzymes have been published, many of the older protocols for the assay of proteases are still in use. One obvious change has been brought about by the revolution in recombinant protein expression technology. This ability to engineer proteins has added a new dimension to the study of proteases. Other changes have arisen from an understanding of the complexity of the proteolytic machinery that govern many critical cellular processes (e.g. caspases), and the development of instrumental means to auto mate these analyses. Thus, in addition to several standard protocols, this chapter describes some of these newer assays that can be readily imported into most lab oratories. Other, more complex methods are described briefly. It is expected that the reader will adapt the protocols presented to meet their specific needs. The substrate nomenclature used in this chapter is shown in Table 1.