title: Lysosomal cysteine peptidases - Molecules signaling tumor cell death and survival.
abstract: Lysosomal cysteine peptidases - cysteine cathepsins - are general intracellular protein-degrading enzymes that control also a variety of specific physiological processes. They can trigger irreversible events leading to signal transduction and activation of signaling pathways, resulting in cell survival and proliferation or cell death. In cancer cells, lysosomal cysteine peptidases are involved in multiple processes during malignant progression. Their translocation from the endosomal/lysosomal pathway to nucleus, cytoplasm, plasma membrane and extracellular space enables the activation and remodeling of a variety of tumor promoting proteins. Thus, lysosomal cysteine peptidases interfere with cytokine/chemokine signaling, regulate cell adhesion and migration and endocytosis, are involved in the antitumor immune response and apoptosis, and promote cell invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. Further, lysosomal cysteine peptidases modify growth factors and receptors involved in tyrosine kinase dependent pathways such as MAPK, Akt and JNK, thus representing key signaling tools for the activation of tumor cell growth and proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pišlar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Milica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perišić Nanut
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva 7, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Biotechnology, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. Electronic address: janko.kos@ffa.uni-lj.si.
authors.forename: Janko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death / Q000235:genetics; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D002403:Cathepsins; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases
keywords: Cancer; Cathepsins; Lysosomal peptidases; Signaling