Publikationsdatenbank

Cystatins of parasitic organisms (2011)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Klotz, Christian

Ziegler, Thomas

Daniłowicz-Luebert, Emilia

Hartmann, Susanne

Quelle

Advances in experimental medicine and biology

Bandzählung: 712

Seiten: 208 – 221

ISSN: 0065-2598

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-8414-2_13

Pubmed: 21660667

Kontakt

Institut für Immunologie

Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. 7-13
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 51834
immunologie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

The cystatin superfamily comprises several groups of protease inhibitors. In this chapter we will focus on I25 family members, which consist predominantly of the type 2 cystatins. Recently, a wealth of information on these molecules and their activities has been described. Parasite cystatins are shown to have dual functions via interaction with both parasite and host proteases. Thereby, parasite cystatins are not only essentially involved in the regulation of physiological processes during parasite development, but also represent important pathogenicity factors. Interestingly, some studies indicate that parasite cystatins evolved exceptional immuno-modulatory properties. these capacities could be exploited to interfere with unwanted immune responses in unrelated human inflammatory diseases. We highlight the different biological roles of parasite cystatins and the anticipated future developments.