Proteases catalyze hydrolysis of amide bonds within peptides and proteins, therefore they play crucial functions for organism functioning, but also in industry to facilitate numerous processes. Feather-degrading fungus Onygena corvina (O. corvina) is loaded with numerous proteases that can be utilized for variety of applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticoagulation therapy is a mainstay of the treatment of thrombotic disorders; however, conventional anticoagulants trade antithrombotic benefits for bleeding risk. Factor (f) XI deficiency, known as hemophilia C, rarely causes spontaneous bleeding, suggesting that fXI plays a limited role in hemostasis. In contrast, individuals with congenital fXI deficiency display a reduced incidence of ischemic stroke and venous thromboembolism, indicating that fXI plays a role in thrombosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivated effector caspases 3, 6 and 7 are responsible for cleaving a number of target substrates, leading to the ultimate destruction of cells apoptosis. The functions of caspases 3 and 7 in apoptosis execution have been widely studied over the years with multiple chemical probes for both of these enzymes. In contrast, caspase 6 seems to be largely neglected when compared to the heavily studied caspases 3 and 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCathepsin K (CatK) is a lysosomal cysteine protease whose highest expression is found in osteoclasts, which are the cells responsible for bone resorption. Investigations of the functions and physiological relevance of CatK have often relied on antibody-related techniques, which makes studying its activity patterns a challenging task. Hence, we developed a set of chemical tools for the investigation of CatK activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActivated protein C (APC), thrombin, and factor (f) Xa are vitamin K-dependent serine proteases that are key factors in blood coagulation. Moreover, they play important roles in inflammation, apoptosis, fibrosis, angiogenesis, and viral infections. Abnormal activity of these coagulation factors has been related to multiple conditions, such as bleeding and thrombosis, Alzheimer's disease, sepsis, multiple sclerosis, and COVID-19.
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