Caspase 9 is a crucial enzyme in the apoptotic pathway, responsible for the initiation of programmed cell death. It belongs to the family of cysteine-aspartic proteases known as caspases, which play a pivotal role in the regulation and execution of apoptosis in multicellular organisms. Caspase 9 is synthesized as an inactive zymogen called procaspase 9, which undergoes proteolytic cleavage to become active.
