African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (9), pp. 1077-1086, 2 May 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Review

Papain-like proteases: Applications of their inhibitors

Vikash K. Dubey¹*,  Monu Pande², Bishal Kumar Singh¹ and Medicherla V. Jagannadham²

¹Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati- 781039, Assam, India.

²Molecular Biology Unit, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: vdubey@iitg.ernet.in. Tel: +91-361-2582203. Fax: +91-361-2582249.

Accepted 5 February, 2007

Proteases are one of the most important classes of enzyme and expressed throughout the animal and plant kingdoms as well as in viruses and bacteria. The protease family has drawn special attention for drug target for cure of several diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis and cancer. Many proteases from various sources are being studied extensively with respect to activity, inhibition and structure.  In this review, we hope to bring together the information available about the proteases with particular emphasis on papain-like plant cysteine proteases. Besides, protease inhibitors and their potential utilities are also discussed.

Key words: Proteases, plant latex, reaction mechanism and protease inhibitors.