Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.23.5 (cathepsin D)
4,130 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Neuroblastoma is the most common type of cancer in infants. In children this tumor is particularly aggressive; despite various new therapeutic approaches, it is associated with poor prognosis. Given the importance of endosomal-lysosomal proteolysis in cellular metabolism, we hypothesized that inhibition of lysosomal protease would impact negatively on neuroblastoma cell survival. Treatment with E-64 or CA074Me (2 specific inhibitors of cathepsin B) or with pepstatin A (a specific inhibitor of cathepsin D) was cytotoxic for 2 neuroblastoma cell lines having different degrees of malignancy. Cell death was associated with condensation and fragmentation of chromatin and externalization of plasma membrane phosphatidylserine, 2 hallmarks of apoptosis. Concomitant inhibition of the caspase cascade protected neuroblastoma cells from cathepsin inhibitor-induced cytotoxicity. These data indicate that prolonged inhibition of the lysosomal proteolytic pathway is incompatible with cell survival, leading to apoptosis of neuroblastoma cells, and that the cathepsin-mediated and caspase-mediated proteolytic systems are connected and cooperate in the regulation of such an event. Since modern antitumor chemotherapy is aimed at restoring the normal rate of apoptosis in neoplastic tissues, the demonstration that endosomal-lysosomal cathepsins are involved in this process may constitute a basis for novel strategies that include cathepsin inhibitors in the therapeutic regimen.
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PMID:Lysosomal proteases as potential targets for the induction of apoptotic cell death in human neuroblastomas. 1185 53

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common childhood autoimmune rheumatic disease and like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is characterized by inflammation and the progressive destruction of joints. In RA, cathepsins as proteinases play a major role in destroying synovial tissue and cartilage matrix. So far no data on cathepsin expression in pannus tissue of HA patients exist. The aim of this study was to characterize the expression levels of cathepsins B, D, H, and L in HA and to compare them with those in RA. Synovectomy tissue from 16 HA and 12 RA patients was investigated for cathepsin expression levels by Western blot analysis. Expression of cathepsins B, D and L was on comparable levels in the synovectomy tissue of HA and RA patients. The following graduation of expression was determined: cathepsin D > cathepsin L > cathepsin B. Cathepsin H was neither found to be expressed in HA nor in RA patients. The expression levels of cathepsins in pannus tissue showed no clear difference between patients with systemic JIA and patients with monoarticular JIA. In summary, the comparable expression of cathepsins B, D and L in RA and JIA synovectomy tissue suggests that they may play a similarly important role in destroying synovial tissue and cartilage matrix in the course of HA and RA.
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PMID:Expression of cathepsin B, D and L protein in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. 1238 47

The putative role of mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor-II receptor (M6P/IGFII-R) as a tumour suppressor and its value as a prognostic marker of breast cancer was studied in 42 benign breast diseases (BBD), 61 in situ carcinomas (CIS) and 133 invasive carcinomas. The receptor was quantified by immunohistochemistry with a computerised image analyser, using specific polyclonal IGY antibodies. The M6P/IGFII-R level varied markedly according to the different patient samples, but median values and distributions were similar in lesions and normal adjacent glands. However, the receptor level was significantly increased in high-grade ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS) and decreased in invasive carcinomas relative to adjacent normal tissue. The M6P/IGFII-R protein concentration in invasive breast carcinomas was mostly independent of prognostic parameters: tumour size, histological grade, lymph node (N) invasiveness and oestrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) status. The only positive correlation was with cathepsin D, the progesterone receptor (PgR) and with patients aged >60 years. These results do not support the hypothesis of a frequent and early inactivation of the M6P/IGFII-R gene in breast cancer. Clinical follow-up of patients might reveal a prognostic value for one of the cathepsin receptors.
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PMID:Mannose-6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor-II receptor expression levels during the progression from normal human mammary tissue to invasive breast carcinomas. 1262 43

Desquamation is described as a protease-dependent phenomenon where serine proteases with a basic pH optimum play a key role. Recently proteases with an acidic pH optimum were identified in the stratumcorneum and associated with desquamation, e.g., cathepsin D and the stratum corneum thiol protease. The purpose of this study was to investigate if human stratum corneum contains proteases different from the above, exhibiting similar properties. After gel filtration, we identified four distinct proteolytic activities in a human stratum corneum extract, a cathepsin-E-like activity (80 kDa), a cathepsin-D activity (40 kDa), a yet unknown cathepsin-L-like form (28 kDa) exhibiting the highest caseinolytic activity, and a chymotrypsin-like protein (24 kDa) containing the acidic activity of the well described stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme. We named the new 28 kDa protease stratum corneum cathepsin-L-like enzyme. Characterization of stratum corneum cathepsin-L-like enzyme provided clear evidence that this new protease, despite its membership to the cathepsin-L-like family, is distinct from cathepsin L and from the recently described stratum corneum thiol protease. Its ability to hydrolyze corneodesmosin, a marker of corneocyte cohesion, was in favor of a role of stratum corneum cathepsin-L-like enzyme in the desquamation process. A more detailed analysis did not allow us to identify stratum corneum cathepsin-L-like enzyme at the molecular level but revealed that stratum corneum thiol protease is identical with the recently described cathepsin L2 protease. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction studies and the use of a specific antibody revealed that, in contrast to earlier reports, expression of stratum corneum thiol protease in human epidermis is not related to keratinocyte differentiation. Our results indicate that the stratum corneum thiol protease is probably expressed as a pro-enzyme in the lower layers of the epidermis and in part activated by a yet unidentified mechanism in the upper layers during keratinocyte differentiation.
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PMID:Analysis of proteins with caseinolytic activity in a human stratum corneum extract revealed a yet unidentified cysteine protease and identified the so-called "stratum corneum thiol protease" as cathepsin l2. 1264 22

Our recent studies show little evidence for increased granulosa cell apoptosis during atresia in teleost follicles, in direct contrast to the mammalian model. Histological evidence suggests that atresia in many oviparous vertebrates involves proteolytic degradation of the energy-rich yolk storage proteins within the oocyte. This study tests the hypothesis that physiological conditions that promote atresia (hormone withdrawal) lead to increased lysosomal protease activity in rainbow trout oocytes. We subjected rainbow trout ovarian follicles to conditions that promote atresia (serum-free culture) for up to 72 hr, and measured the activity of lysosomal proteases using routine enzymatic assays. Furthermore, we used high performance liquid chromatography to quantify the increase in free amino acids resulting from proteolysis of yolk proteins. Concomitantly, we evaluated the extent of follicular apoptosis during prolonged serum-free culture, using caspase-3-like activity and DNA fragmentation as indicators of apoptosis. Our results show a significant, time-dependent increase in cathepsin L-like, but not cathepsin D-like, activity levels during culture in serum-free medium; increased cathepsin L-like activity is confirmed by a significant increase in oocyte free amino acid content after 72 hr culture. In contrast, we detected only a transient increase in apoptosis during prolonged serum-free culture, as revealed through both radioactive 3'end-labeling of oligonucleosomal DNA fragments, and caspase-3-like activity. The results of this study provide the first evidence for a novel mechanism of follicular atresia in teleosts involving cathepsin-mediated yolk proteolysis.
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PMID:Yolk proteolysis in rainbow trout oocytes after serum-free culture: evidence for a novel biochemical mechanism of atresia in oviparous vertebrates. 1270 34

Endogenous inhibitors tightly control the activity of proteinases in the extracellular space. Proteinase/antiproteinase imbalance may be caused by predominance of proteinases, resulting in severe tissue damage or abundance of proteinase inhibitors, leading to a shift in the balance of synthesis and degradation of extracellular matrix proteins and accumulation of these matrix components. Lung fibrosis is characterised by accumulation of fibrous matrix proteins in the alveolar interstitium. The activity of cathepsin D and amounts of cathepsins D and B in bleomycin-injured rat lung tissue and alveolar macrophages were examined. In addition, the activities of cathepsins and cysteine proteinase inhibitors (CPIs) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were determined. No cathepsin but high CPI activity and large amounts of procathepsin B were detected in the BALF. In the alveolar lumen, the disturbed proteinase/antiproteinase balance for cysteine proteinases was clearly dominated by CPIs. In alveolar macrophages, the main source of increased cathepsin levels, large changes in cathepsin B and D content were observed during the inflammatory phase, corresponding to the occurrence of procathepsin B in BALF. With the end of the phase of tissue remodelling, imbalances in cathepsin and CPI activities were largely eliminated. Immunoblot data, revealing an increase in cathepsin D levels in myofibroblast-like cells compared to fibroblasts and in resting fibroblasts compared to proliferating cells, implicate this proteinase in the differentiation and conversion processes occurring at the beginning of the fibrotic phase of lung injury. The results show that cathepsin amounts and activities are increased transiently in lung tissue during regeneration processes in bleomycin-induced lung injury. Imbalances of cathepsin and cysteine proteinase inhibitors activities are also a phenomenon of the phase of tissue remodelling initiated by lung injury.
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PMID:Cathepsins in bleomycin-induced lung injury in rat. 1451 31

Increasing evidence suggests that lysosomal proteases are actively involved in apoptosis. Using HeLa cells as the model system, we show that selective lysosome disruption with L-leucyl-L-leucine methyl ester results in apoptosis, characterized by translocation of lysosomal proteases into the cytosol and by the cleavage of a proapoptotic Bcl-2-family member Bid. Apoptosis and Bid cleavage, but not translocation of lysosomal proteases to the cytosol, could be prevented by 15 microM L-trans-epoxysuccinyl(OEt)-Leu-3-methylbutylamide, an inhibitor of papain-like cysteine proteases. Incubation of cells with 15 microM N-benzoyloxycarbonyl-VAD-fluoromethyl ketone prevented apoptosis but not Bid cleavage, suggesting that cathepsin-mediated apoptosis in this system is caspase-dependent. In vitro experiments performed at neutral pH showed that papain-like cathepsins B, H, L, S, and K cleave Bid predominantly at Arg(65) or Arg(71). No Bid cleavage was observed with cathepsins C and X or the aspartic protease cathepsin D. Incubation of full-length Bid treated with cathepsins B, H, L, and S resulted in rapid cytochrome c release from isolated mitochondria. Thus, Bid may be an important mediator of apoptosis induced by lysosomal disruption.
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PMID:Selective disruption of lysosomes in HeLa cells triggers apoptosis mediated by cleavage of Bid by multiple papain-like lysosomal cathepsins. 1458 76

Acidic noncaspase proteases-like cathepsins have been introduced as novel mediators of apoptosis. A clear role for these proteases and the acidic endolysosomal compartment in apoptotic signalling is not yet defined. To understand the role and significance of noncaspases in promoting and mediating cell death, it is important to determine whether an intersection of these proteases and the caspase pathway exists. We recently identified the endolysosomal aspartate protease cathepsin D (CTSD) as a target for the proapoptotic lipid ceramide. Here, we show that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-induced CTSD activation depends on functional acid sphingomyelinase (A-SMase) expression. Ectopic expression of CTSD in CTSD-deficient fibroblasts results in an enhanced TNF-mediated apoptotic response. Intracellular colocalization of CTSD with the proapoptotic bcl-2 protein family member Bid in HeLa cells, and the ability of CTSD to cleave directly Bid in vitro as well as the lack of Bid activation in cathepsin-deficient fibroblasts indicate that Bid represents a direct downstream target of CTSD. Costaining of CTSD and Bid with Rab5 suggests that the endosomal compartments are the common 'meeting point'. Caspase-9 and -3 activation also was in part dependent on A-SMase and CTSD expression as revealed in the respective deficiency models. Our results link as novel endosomal intermediates the A-SMase and the acid aspartate protease CTSD to the mitochondrial apoptotic TNF pathway.
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PMID:Cathepsin D links TNF-induced acid sphingomyelinase to Bid-mediated caspase-9 and -3 activation. 1473 42

In the majority of neoplasms invasion is inevitably linked to metastasis and even small tumors have the dormant potential for metastasis. In basal cell carcinoma (BCC) invasion can be evaluated separately because local invasion but no metastasis occurs. Important proteases in invasion and metastasis are the cathepsins. Their activity and regulation has not yet been evaluated in BCC. We determined the activities, immunoreactivities and mRNA of cathepsins B, L and H in sections of different subtypes of BCC. BCC cells and peritumoral cells contained activities for cathepsins B and L. In all parts of the tumor, the reaction with cathepsin B and L substrate was stronger than in normal skin. The immunoreactive protein and mRNA for these proteases, in contrast, was elevated only occasionally in small tumor nodules. Immunoreactive protein and mRNA of cathepsin D was detected predominantly in the center of tumor nodules. Cathepsin H activities, immunoreactivities and mRNA in most BCCs were higher than in normal skin, and the reactive cells were located between and around tumor nodules, but not in the tumor nests. The results indicate that cathepsins B and L are involved in invasion of BCC cells. Cathepsin H of the peritumoral cells may either promote invasion of the tumor cells by degradation of the extracellular matrix or may reflect an elevated activity of the surrounding immunological cells. The pattern of cathepsin staining markedly differs from that observed in melanomas and may characterize locally invading non-metastatic tumors.
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PMID:Cathepsins in basal cell carcinomas: activity, immunoreactivity and mRNA staining of cathepsins B, D, H and L. 1476 79

Tumorigenesis is associated with several changes that alter the cellular susceptibility to programmed cell death. Here, we show that immortalization and transformation sensitize cells in particular to the cysteine cathepsin-mediated lysosomal death pathway. Spontaneous immortalization increased the susceptibility of wild-type murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-mediated cytotoxicity >1000-fold, whereas immortalized MEFs deficient for lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin B (CathB) retained the resistant phenotype of primary cells. This effect was specific for cysteine cathepsins, because also lack of cathepsin L (a lysosomal cysteine protease), but not that of cathepsin D (a lysosomal aspartyl protease) or caspase-3 (the major executioner protease in classic apoptosis) inhibited the immortalization-associated sensitization of MEFs to TNF. Oncogene-driven transformation of immortalized MEFs was associated with a dramatic increase in cathepsin expression and additional sensitization to the cysteine cathepsin-mediated death pathway. Importantly, exogenous expression of CathB partially reversed the resistant phenotype of immortalized CathB-deficient MEFs, and the inhibition of CathB activity by pharmacological inhibitors or RNA interference attenuated TNF-induced cytotoxicity in immortalized and transformed wild-type cells. Thus, tumorigenesis-associated changes in lysosomes may counteract cancer progression and enhance therapeutic responses by sensitizing cells to programmed cell death.
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PMID:Sensitization to the lysosomal cell death pathway upon immortalization and transformation. 1528 36


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