Editing Proteolysis (section)

==Proteolysis and diseases==
Abnormal proteolytic activity is associated with many diseases.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://pt7mdv.ceingebi.unam.mx/computo/pdfs/ubiquita/enfermedades.pdf |title=Ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis: its role in human diseases and the design of therapeutic strategies |author=Kathleen M. Sakamoto |journal=Molecular Genetics and Metabolism |volume=77 |year=2002 |pages=44–56 |pmid=12359129 |doi=10.1016/S1096-7192(02)00146-4 |issue=1–2 |access-date=2012-06-30 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070429/http://pt7mdv.ceingebi.unam.mx/computo/pdfs/ubiquita/enfermedades.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In [[pancreatitis]], leakage of proteases and their premature activation in the pancreas results in the self-digestion of the [[pancreas]]. People with [[diabetes mellitus]] may have increased lysosomal activity and the degradation of some proteins can increase significantly. Chronic inflammatory diseases such as [[rheumatoid arthritis]] may involve the release of lysosomal enzymes into extracellular space that break down surrounding tissues. Abnormal proteolysis may result in age-related neurological diseases such as [[Alzheimer]]'s due to the generation and ineffective removal of peptides that aggregate in cells.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Proteases and proteolysis in Alzheimer disease: a multifactorial view on the disease process |author=De Strooper B. |journal=Physiological Reviews |year=2010 |volume=90|issue=2 |pages=465–94 |pmid=20393191 |doi=10.1152/physrev.00023.2009 }}</ref>

Proteases may be regulated by [[antiprotease]]s or [[Protease inhibitor (biology)|protease inhibitors]], and imbalance between proteases and antiproteases can result in diseases, for example, in the destruction of lung tissues in [[emphysema]] brought on by [[smoking]] tobacco. Smoking is thought to increase the [[neutrophils]] and [[macrophages]] in the lung which release excessive amount of proteolytic enzymes such as [[elastase]], such that they can no longer be inhibited by [[serpin]]s such as [[alpha 1-antitrypsin|α<sub>1</sub>-antitrypsin]], thereby resulting in the breaking down of connective tissues in the lung. Other proteases and their inhibitors may also be involved in this disease, for example [[matrix metalloproteinase]]s (MMPs) and [[tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases]] (TIMPs).<ref>{{cite journal |journal=International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease |year=2008 |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=361–7 |title=Pathogenesis of COPD. Part I. The role of protease-antiprotease imbalance in emphysema |author=Abboud RT1, Vimalanathan S |pmid=18371259 }}</ref>

Other diseases linked to aberrant proteolysis include [[muscular dystrophy]], degenerative skin disorders, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, and [[malignancy]].