Peptide-Modulated Activity Enhancement of Acidic Protease Cathepsin E at Neutral pH.
Enzymes are regulated by their activation and inhibition. Enzyme activators can often be effective tools for scientific and medical purposes, although they are more difficult to obtain than inhibitors. Here, using the paired peptide method, we report on protease-cathepsin-E-activating peptides that are obtained at neutral pH. These selected peptides also underwent molecular evolution, after which their cathepsin E activation capability improved. Thus, the activators we obtained could enhance cathepsin-E-induced cancer cell apoptosis, which indicated their potential as cancer drug precursors.
Department of Functional Materials Science, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-okubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama-shi, Saitama 338-8570, Japan ; Rational Evolutionary Design of Advanced Biomolecules, Saitama (REDS), Saitama Small Enterprise Promotion Corporation, No. 552, Saitama Industrial Technology Center, 3-12-18 Kami-Aoki, Kawaguchi, Saitama 333-0844, Japan.
Masayuki
M
Komatsu
Madhu
M
Biyani
Sunita
S
Ghimire Gautam
Koichi
K
Nishigaki