The proteins that inhibit peptidases are of great importance in medicine and biotechnology, but there has never been a comprehensive system of classification for them. Some of the terminology currently in use is potentially confusing. In the hope of facilitating the exchange, storage and retrieval of information about this important group of proteins, we now describe a system wherein the inhibitor units of the peptidase inhibitors are assigned to 48 families on the basis of similarities detectable at the level of amino acid sequence. Then, on the basis of three-dimensional structures, 31 of the families are assigned to 26 clans. A simple system of nomenclature is introduced for reference to each clan, family and inhibitor. We briefly discuss the specificities and mechanisms of the interactions of the inhibitors in the various families with their target enzymes. The system of families and clans of inhibitors described has been implemented in the MEROPS peptidase database (http://merops.sanger.ac.uk/), and this will provide a mechanism for updating it as new information becomes available.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Review Article|
March 15 2004
Evolutionary families of peptidase inhibitors
Neil D. RAWLINGS
;
Neil D. RAWLINGS
1
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail ndr@sanger.ac.uk).
Search for other works by this author on:
Dominic P. TOLLE
;
Dominic P. TOLLE
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, U.K.
Search for other works by this author on:
Alan J. BARRETT
Alan J. BARRETT
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, U.K.
Search for other works by this author on:
Biochem J (2004) 378 (3): 705–716.
Article history
Received:
November 28 2003
Revision Received:
December 23 2003
Accepted:
January 05 2004
Accepted Manuscript online:
January 05 2004
Citation
Neil D. RAWLINGS, Dominic P. TOLLE, Alan J. BARRETT; Evolutionary families of peptidase inhibitors. Biochem J 15 March 2004; 378 (3): 705–716. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bj20031825
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Cited By
Related Articles
Crystal structure and functional characterization of an immunomodulatory salivary cystatin from the soft tick Ornithodoros moubata
Biochem J (June,2010)
Heterotypic interactions among NACHT domains: implications for regulation of innate immune responses
Biochem J (June,2004)
Regulation of calpain and calpastatin in differentiating myoblasts: mRNA levels, protein synthesis and stability
Biochem J (October,2000)
Metabolism of Intact and Desialylated α 1 -Antitrypsin
Clin Sci Mol Med (August,1978)