cathepsin

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kathepsin, from Ancient Greek καθέψω (kathépsō), from κατά (katá, “down”) +‎ ἕψω (hépsō, “boil”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈθɛpsɪn/

Noun

cathepsin (plural cathepsins)

1. (biochemistry) Any of a family of proteases primarily active within lysosomes.
   • 1931, A Pirie, BE Holmes, “The cause of inactivation of the Rous sarcoma filtrate during incubation”, in British journal of experimental pathology:

     Grassmann and Dyckerhoff (1930) showed that cysteine and cyanide inhibited the action of ereptic aminopolyase, while they accelerated the action of proteases such as cathepsin.

Derived terms

• procathepsin

References

• “cathepsin”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• pinches at, thin space