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A. Wille, A. Heimburg, A. Gerber, A. Reisenauer, T. Welte, F. Bühling

Functional Consequences of Cathepsin L Deficiency in Human Lung Epithelial Cells

Cathepsin L is a cysteine protease of the papain family. Lung epithelial cells play an important role in host defence. The aim of the present study was to investigate the functional role of cathepsin L in the human lung carcinoma cell line A549. Cathepsin Ldeficient A549 clones were generated. They showed a significant lower proliferation and secreted 5- to 8-fold more IL-8 than the control cells. The production of IL 6, IL-18, and TGF?1/2 was not affected significantly. It was shown that the cells upregulate IL-8 transcription and that IL-8 in the culture supernatant is necessary for the containment of cellular proliferation. In conclusion, the data show that suppression of cathepsin L expression in A549 cells leads to a growth inhibition which is partially compensated by an upregulation of IL-8 production.

Biological Chemistry, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 1431-6730
Volume: 383, 08/2002
Pages: 1291 - 1296

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