Cathepsin L Protein, Mouse, Recombinant (His Tag)

Cathepsin L is a lysosomal cysteine protease that plays a major role in intracellular protein catabolism, and is potent in degrading collagen, laminin, elastin, as well as alpha-1 protease inhibitor and other structural proteins of basement membranes. It is secreted by liver flukes at all stages of their development in the mammalian host, are believed to play important roles in facilitating parasite migration (tissue degradation), feeding and immuno-evasion. Like many proteases, Cathepsin L is synthesized as an inactive preproenzyme, and cleavage of the 96-residue proregion is necessary to generate the fully active 221-residue mature enzyme. Studies have demonstrated that cleavage of the proregion occur autocatalytically under acidic conditions. The enzyme takes part in nutrient acquisition by catabolizing host proteins to absorbable peptides, facilitates the migration of the parasite through the host intestine and liver by cleaving interstitial matrix proteins such as fibronectin, laminin and native collagen and is implicated in the inactivation of host immune defenses by cleaving immunoglobulins. Recently, Cathepsin L has been shown to suppress Th1 immune response in infected laboratory animals making them susceptible to concurrent bacterial infections. Cathepsin L is synthesized in large amounts and secreted by many malignantly transformed cells, and induced by growth factors and tumor promoters. In addition to its role in protein degradation, evidence has accumulated for the participation of Cathepsin L in various physiological and pathological processes, such as tumor invasion and metastasis, bone resorption, spermatogenesis, and arthritis. Accordingly, Cathepsin L may prove useful as a diagnostic or prognostic marker of human tumor malignancy.

At Leading Biology, the biological activity of a recombinant protein is routinely measured using a bioassay, e.g. chemotaxis or cell proliferation assay, enzyme assay, or a functional ELISA. When a recombinant protein is an enzyme, specific activity is derived from an enzymatic assay. Each enzyme is tested for potency by cleavage of a substrate. We are in the process of updating the biological activity data. If you have any questions regarding this update, please feel free to contact our technical support team.

Lyophilized from sterile 20mM Tris, 150mM NaCl, pH 7.5 Please contact us for any concerns or special requirements. Normally 5 % - 8 % trehalose, mannitol and 0.01% Tween 80 are added as protectants before lyophilization. Please refer to the specific buffer information in the hard copy of CoA.

The secreted recombinant mouse CTSL (pro form) consists of 328 amino acids and has a calculated molecular mass of 37.3 kDa. The recombinant protein migrates as several bands probably including the pro form, mature form, the pro peptide and the cleaved heavy chain in SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions.

In general, recombinant proteins are provided as lyophilized powder which are shipped at ambient temperature. Bulk packages of recombinant proteins are provided as frozen liquid. They are shipped out with blue ice unless customers require otherwise. Stable for 1 year at -20°C or below from date of shipment. For maximum recovery of product, centrifuge the original vial after thawing and opening the cap. For long-term storage, aliquot and store at -20°C or below. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.