Cysteinyl cathepsins in cardiovascular diseases

Publication date: Available online 9 January 2020Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and ProteomicsAuthor(s): Xian Zhang, Songyuan Luo, Minjie Wang, Guo-Ping ShiAbstractCysteinyl cathepsins are lysosomal/endosomal proteases that mediate bulk protein degradation in these intracellular acidic compartments. Yet, studies indicate that these proteases also appear in the nucleus, nuclear membrane, cytosol, plasma membrane, and extracellular space. Patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) show increased levels of cathepsins in the heart, aorta, and plasma. Plasma cathepsins often serve as biomarkers or risk factors of CVD. In aortic diseases, such as atherosclerosis and abdominal aneurysms, cathepsins play pathogenic roles, but many of the same cathepsins are cardioprotective in hypertensive, hypertrophic, and infarcted hearts. During the development of CVD, cathepsins are regulated by inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, hypertensive stimuli, oxidative stress, and many others. Cathepsin activities in inflammatory molecule activation, immunity, cell migration, cholesterol metabolism, neovascularization, cell death, cell signaling, and tissue fibrosis all contribute to CVD and are reviewed in this article in memory of Dr. Nobuhiko Katunuma for his contribution to the field.

Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Proteins and Proteomics - January 9, 2020 Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research