Caspase-3 (CASP3)

What it is. Executioner cysteine protease that dismantles cells during apoptosis by cleaving key structural and regulatory proteins.

Why it matters here. Central executioner in apoptosis; its activation commits the cell to orderly death, while inhibition blocks clean dismantling.

Notes. Executioner caspase; activated downstream of initiators (e.g., CASP9). Representative of the caspase family for this wiki entry.