Cathepsin K

Other name(s)

CTSK (gene locus)

Molecular biology

Gene: CTSK maps to 1q21 (Gelb B.D. et al., 1997).
mRNA: size: 1.7-kb
Protein: a 329-amino acid preprocathepsin K with more than 50% identity to both cathepsin S and cathepsin L is deduced from the CTSK cDNA. High cathepsin K expression has been noted in osteoarthritic hip bones and especially in an osteoclastoma, suggesting that this enzyme might be an important component of human osteoclastic bone resorption whose pathologies include osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

Breast cancer

Cell lines:
- Expression of cathepsin K mRNA was confirmed by reverse transcription PCR and Southern analysis in the human breast cancer cell (BCC) lines BT-20, MCF-7, Hs578T, MDA-MB-231, SKBR3, ZR75-30, BT549, MDA-MB-468, T-47D (Littlewood-Evans A.J. et al., 1997).

Tumors:
- Cathepsin K mRNA and protein expression were demonstrated in samples of primary breast carcinoma (Littlewood-Evans A.J. et al., 1997).

References

Gelb B.D. et al. (1997) Structure and chromosomal assignment of the human cathepsin K gene. Genomics 41, 258-262.
Inaoka T. et al. (1995) Molecular cloning of human cDNA for cathepsin K: novel cysteine proteinase predominantly expressed in bone. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 206,89-96.
Littlewood-Evans A.J. (1997) The osteoclast-associated protease cathepsin K is expressed in human breast carcinoma. Cancer Res. 57, 5386-5390.