Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Felbor U
PROVIDER: S-EPMC122989 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Felbor Ute U Kessler Benedikt B Mothes Walther W Goebel Hans H HH Ploegh Hidde L HL Bronson Roderick T RT Olsen Bjorn R BR
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20020604 12
Cathepsins B and L are widely expressed cysteine proteases implicated in both intracellular proteolysis and extracellular matrix remodeling. However, specific roles remain to be validated in vivo. Here we show that combined deficiency of cathepsins B and L in mice is lethal during the second to fourth week of life. Cathepsin B(-/-)/L(-/-) mice reveal a degree of brain atrophy not previously seen in mice. This is because of massive apoptosis of select neurons in the cerebral cortex and the cerebe ...[more]