NVS - Conatus Pharmaceuticals: Emricasan And Severe Portal Hypertension
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Introduction
Caspases are a family of 11 proteases (enzymes capable of breaking down proteins) that are essential for apoptosis (programmed cellular death) and inflammation. The functions of caspases can be subdivided into three main types: apoptosis initiators (capase-2/8/9/10), apoptosis executioners (caspase-3/6/7), and inflammation (caspase-1/4/5/12). In apoptosis,