Molecular function

Catalysis of the hydrolysis of internal, alpha-peptide bonds in a polypeptide chain by a mechanism in which the sulfhydryl group of a cysteine residue at the active center acts as a nucleophile, and contributing to the execution phase of apoptosis.

Examples of gene products that may be annotated to this term include CASP3, CASP6 and CASP7, also called effector (or executioner) caspases.