Department of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Diseases and Allergy, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2020 Apr 23;15:885-899. doi: 10.2147/COPD.S236640. eCollection 2020.
Chitinases, enzymes that cleave chitin's chain to low molecular weight chitooligomers, are widely distributed in nature. Mammalian chitinases belong to the 18-glycosyl-hydrolase family and can be divided into two groups: true chitinases with enzymatic activity (AMCase and chitotriosidase) and chitinase-like proteins (CLPs) molecules which can bind to chitin or chitooligosaccharides but lack enzymatic activity (eg, YKL-40). Chitinases are thought to be part of an innate immunity against chitin-containing parasites and fungal infections. Both groups of these hydrolases are lately evaluated also as chemical mediators or biomarkers involved in airway inflammation and fibrosis. The aim of this article is to present the current knowledge on the potential role of human chitinases and CLPs in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and course of obstructive lung diseases. We also assessed the potential role of chitinase and CLPs inhibitors as therapeutic targets in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.
几丁质酶是一种能够将几丁质的链切割成低分子量几丁寡糖的酶，广泛存在于自然界中。哺乳动物几丁质酶属于 18-糖苷水解酶家族，可以分为两组：具有酶活性的真几丁质酶（AMCase 和壳三糖苷酶）和几丁质酶样蛋白（CLPs）分子，它们可以与几丁质或几丁寡糖结合，但缺乏酶活性（例如，YKL-40）。几丁质酶被认为是针对含有几丁质的寄生虫和真菌感染的先天免疫的一部分。这两组水解酶最近也被评估为参与气道炎症和纤维化的化学介质或生物标志物。本文旨在介绍人类几丁质酶和 CLPs 在阻塞性肺疾病发病机制、诊断和病程中的潜在作用。我们还评估了几丁质酶和 CLPs 抑制剂作为慢性阻塞性肺疾病和哮喘治疗靶点的潜在作用。
