Lysosomal cysteine proteases: more than scavengers.
Lysosomal cysteine proteases were believed to be mainly involved in intracellular protein degradation. Under special conditions they have been found outside lysosomes resulting in pathological conditions. With the discovery of a series of new cathepsins with restricted tissue distributions, it has become evident that these enzymes must be involved in a range of specific cellular tasks much broader than as simple housekeeping enzymes. It is therefore timely to review and discuss the various physiological roles of mammalian lysosomal papain-like cysteine proteases as well as their mechanisms of action and the regulation of their activity.
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia. boris.turk@ijs.si
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D001665:Binding Sites; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology; D010434:Pepsin A / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D017510:Protein Folding; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D002403:Cathepsins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D010434:Pepsin A