Owen C A, Campbell E J
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, USA.
J Leukoc Biol. 1999 Feb;65(2):137-50. doi: 10.1002/jlb.65.2.137.
Leukocyte-derived proteinases have the capacity to degrade every component of the extracellular matrix, and thereby play fundamental roles in physiological processes. However, if the activity of these proteinases is uncontrolled or dysregulated, they have the capacity to contribute to tissue injury that potentially affects every organ in the body. Although there is a substantial literature on structure and activity of these proteinases when they are free in solution, until recently there has been little information about the cell biology of proteinases and their inhibitors. Recent studies, however, have identified several mechanisms by which inflammatory cells can degrade extracellular proteins in a milieu that contains high-affinity proteinase inhibitors.
白细胞衍生的蛋白酶有能力降解细胞外基质的每一种成分，从而在生理过程中发挥重要作用。然而，如果这些蛋白酶的活性不受控制或失调，它们就有可能导致组织损伤，而这种损伤可能会影响身体的每个器官。尽管关于这些蛋白酶在游离于溶液中时的结构和活性已有大量文献报道，但直到最近，关于蛋白酶及其抑制剂的细胞生物学方面的信息还很少。然而，最近的研究已经确定了几种机制，通过这些机制，炎症细胞可以在含有高亲和力蛋白酶抑制剂的环境中降解细胞外蛋白质。
