Cysteine proteases of the papain superfamily are present in nearly all groups of eukaryotes and play vital roles in a wide range of biological processes and diseases, including antigen and hormone processing, bacterial infection, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and cancer-cell invasion ...
Cysteine proteases of the papain superfamily are present in nearly all groups of eukaryotes and play vital roles in a wide range of biological processes and diseases, including antigen and hormone processing, bacterial infection, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and cancer-cell invasion. Because they are critical to the life-cycle progression of many pathogenic protozoa, they represent potential targets for selective inhibitors. Chagas' disease, the leading cause of death due to heart disease in Latin American countries, is transmitted by Trypanosoma cruzi. Cruzain is the major cysteine protease of T cruzi and has been the target of extensive structure-based drug design.
Related Citations:
The Crystal Structure of Cruzain: a Therapeutic Target for Chagas' Disease McGrath, M.E., Eakin, A.E., Engel, J.C., McKerrow, J.H., Craik, C.S., Fletterick, R.J. (1995) J Mol Biol 247: 251
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA. brinen@msg.ucsf.edu
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