DFF45/ICAD: Proteins and Enzymes

DFF45 (DNA fragmentation factor 45 kDa subunit, also known as ICAD) is a 45 kDa member of the CIDE domain-containing family of proteins. Human DFF45 is 331 amino acids (aa) in length. It contains an N-terminal CIDE domain (aa 17-96) plus two caspase-3 cleavage sites (aa 117-118 and 224-225). DFF45 is a cytoplasmic protein that inhibits DFF40 DNAase. Normally, DFF45 and DFF40 form an enzymatically-inactive noncovalent heterodimer. Upon activation of the apoptotic cascade, DFF45 is cleaved into ...