Dual contrasting roles of cysteine cathepsins in cancer progression: apoptosis versus tumour invasion.
Cysteine cathepsins have been known for a long time to play an important role in cancer progression and metastasis. Several studies have proposed the concept of anti-cathepsin therapy in cancer treatment. On the other hand, cysteine cathepsins have been recently found to play a role in tumour cell death through mediation of apoptosis. The purpose of this mini-review is therefore to provide an insight into the mechanisms by which cysteine cathepsins modulate apoptosis and/or participate in tumour invasion, and to evaluate the impact of these enzymes on both tumour progression and development of potential strategies for cancer treatment.
Vasiljeva
Olga
O
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Structural Biology, J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. olga.vasiljeva@ijs.si
Turk
Boris
B
D017209:Apoptosis; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000502:physiology*; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000502:physiology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology
D002403:Cathepsins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases