Cathepsin B
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cathepsin_B".

Cathepsin B, also known as CTSB, is a human gene.

Function

The protein encoded by this gene is a lysosomal cysteine proteinase composed of a dimer of disulfide-linked heavy and light chains, both produced from a single protein precursor. It was once suspected as a candidate protease responsible for the generation of beta-amyloid from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) secretase, but this function is now known to be due to the action of the presenilin/g-secretase complex. Overexpression of the encoded protein, which is a member of the peptidase C1 family, has been associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma and other tumors. At least five transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene.^[1]

Cathepsin B seems to actually break down the proteins which cause amyloid plaque, the root of Alzheimer's symptoms, and may even be a pivotal part of the natural defense against this disease used by people who do not get it.^[2][3]

See also

• Cathepsins

References

1. ^ Entrez Gene: CTSB cathepsin B.
2. ^ Mueller-Steiner S, Zhou Y, Arai H, Roberson E, Sun B, Chen J, Wang X, Yu G, Esposito L, Mucke L, Gan L (2006). "Antiamyloidogenic and neuroprotective functions of cathepsin B: implications for Alzheimer's disease". Neuron 51 (6): 703–14. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.07.027. PMID 16982417. 
3. ^ Enzyme shreds Alzheimer's protein (2006-09-21). Retrieved on 2007-11-07.

Further reading

External links

• MeSH Cathepsin+B

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