Cathepsin
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
A cathepsin is a protease, a type of protein that breaks apart other proteins, found in many types of cells including those in all animals. There are approximately a dozen members of this family, which are distinguished by their structure and which proteins they cleave. Most of the members become activated at the low pH found in lysosomes. Thus, the activity of this family lies almost entirely within those organelles.
Cathepsins have a vital role in mammalian cellular turnover, e.g. bone resorption. They degrade polypeptides and are distinguished by their substrate specificites.
Contents |
Clinical significance
Cathepsins have been implicated in:
- Cancer[1]
- Stroke[1]
- Alzheimer's disease,
- Arthritis[1]
- Ebola, Cathepsin L and to a lesser extent cathepsin B have been found to be necessary for the virus to enter host cells.
History
The earliest record of "cathepsin" found in PubMed is from the Journal of Biological Chemistry in 1949.[1]
However, references within this article indicate that they were first identified and named around the turn of the 20th century. Much of this earlier work was done in the laboratory of Max Bergmann, who spent the first several decades of the century defining these proteases. [1]
References
External links
| This hydrolase article is a stub. You can help WikiDoc by expanding it. |
Hydrolase: proteases (EC 3.4) | |
|---|---|
| Exopeptidase 3.4.11-19 | Angiotensin-converting enzyme - Dipeptidase - Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 - DD-transpeptidase Metalloexopeptidases: Aminopeptidase (Alanine, Cystinyl, Leucyl, Glutamyl) - Carboxypeptidase (A, B, C, E, Glutamate II) |
| Endopeptidase 3.4.21-24 | Serine proteases - Cysteine protease - Aspartic acid protease - Metalloendopeptidases |
| Cathepsin 3.4.18,21,22,23 | A - B - C - K |
