Skip to content
EntityQ426245· pop 16· linked from 348 articles

cathepsins

Sign in to save

Also known as cathepsin

Cathepsins (Ancient Greek kata- 'down' and hepsein 'boil'; abbreviated CTS) are proteases (enzymes that degrade proteins) found in all animals as well as other organisms. There are approximately a dozen members of this family, which are distinguished by their structure, catalytic mechanism, and which proteins they cleave. Most of the members become activated at the low pH found in lysosomes. Thus, the activity of this family lies almost entirely within those organelles. There are, however, exceptions such as cathepsin K, which works extracellularly after secretion by osteoclasts in bone resorp

Key facts

Protein family.Symbol
CTP
Protein family.Name
Cathepsin
Protein family.image
Cathepsin K 1TU6.png
Protein family.caption
Structure of Cathepsin K
Protein family.Pfam
PF00112
Protein family.Pfam_clan
CL0125
Protein family.InterPro
IPR000668
Protein family.SMART
Pept_C1
Protein family.PROSITE
PDOC00126
Protein family.SCOP
1aec
Protein family.MEROPS
C1

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
peptidase
Image
Cathepsin K 1TU6.png
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

12 sections
Contents
  • Classification
  • Clinical significance
  • Cathepsin A
  • Cathepsin B
  • Cathepsin D
  • Cathepsin K
  • Cathepsin V
  • Inhibitors
  • Cathepsin zymography
  • History
  • References
  • External links

Cathepsins (Ancient Greek kata- 'down' and hepsein 'boil'; abbreviated CTS) are proteases (enzymes that degrade proteins) found in all animals as well as other organisms. There are approximately a dozen members of this family, which are distinguished by their structure, catalytic mechanism, and which proteins they cleave. Most of the members become activated at the low pH found in lysosomes. Thus, the activity of this family lies almost entirely within those organelles. There are, however, exceptions such as cathepsin K, which works extracellularly after secretion by osteoclasts in bone resorption. Cathepsins have a vital role in mammalian cellular turnover.

== Classification == Cathepsin A (serine protease) Cathepsin B (cysteine protease) Cathepsin C (cysteine protease) Cathepsin D (aspartyl protease) Cathepsin E (aspartyl protease) Cathepsin F (cysteine proteinase) Cathepsin G (serine protease) Cathepsin H (cysteine protease) Cathepsin K (cysteine protease) Cathepsin L1 (cysteine protease) Cathepsin L2 (or V) (cysteine protease) Cathepsin O (cysteine protease) Cathepsin P (mouse cysteine protease) Cathepsin Q (rat cysteine protease) Cathepsin S (cysteine protease) Cathepsin W (cysteine proteinase) Cathepsin Z (or X) (cysteine protease)

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “cathepsins” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.