Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2048596 | FEBS Letters | 2009 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
A major house dust mite allergen Der f 1 belongs to the papain-like cysteine protease family. This study investigated whether Der f 1 can cleave the latency-associated peptide (LAP) of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β via its proteolytic activity and activate latent TGF-β. We found that Der f 1 can cleave LAP and induce the activation of latent TGF-β, leading to functional Smad signaling. Importantly, these actions of Der f 1 were inhibited by cysteine protease inhibitor E64 or inactivation of the protease activity by heat. Thus, latent TGF-β may be a direct target of Der f 1 protease activity.
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Authors
Yuki Nakamura, Masanori Miyata, Naomi Shimokawa, Yuko Ohnuma, Ryohei Katoh, Hideoki Ogawa, Ko Okumura, Atsuhito Nakao,