Cathepsin B Activity Initiates Apoptosis via Digestive Protease Activation in Pancreatic Acinar Cells and Experimental Pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis is associated with premature activation of digestive proteases in the pancreas. The lysosomal hydrolase cathepsin B (CTSB) is a known activator of trypsinogen, and its deletion reduces disease severity in experimental pancreatitis. Here we studied the activation mechanism and subcellular compartment in which CTSB regulates protease activation and cellular injury.

Advances in the etiology of chronic pancreatitis.

In the past, chronic pancreatitis has been regarded as a fairly uniform and largely untreatable disorder that most commonly affects patients who both lack gainful employment or adequate insurance coverage and have a tendency to smoke and drink. Large clinical trials suggest that this perception is not only misguided and discriminatory but also not based on facts. We forgot that the perception of chronic liver disease was similar before World War II, and just like liver cirrhosis the fibrosis and cirrhosis of the pancreas--i.