Novel Opportunities for Cathepsin S Inhibitors in Cancer Immunotherapy by Nanocarrier-Mediated Delivery.

ABSTRACT: Cathepsin S (CatS) is a secreted cysteine protease that cleaves certain extracellular matrix proteins, regulates antigen presentation in antigen-presenting cells (APC), and promotes M2-type macrophage and dendritic cell polarization. CatS is overexpressed in many solid cancers, and overall, it appears to promote an immune-suppressive and tumor-promoting microenvironment. While most data suggest that CatS inhibition or knockdown promotes anti-cancer immunity, cell-specific inhibition, especially in myeloid cells, appears to be important for therapeutic efficacy. This makes the design of CatS selective inhibitors and their targeting to tumor-associated M2-type macrophages (TAM) and DC an attractive therapeutic strategy compared to the use of non-selective immunosuppressive compounds or untar

SUBMITTER: Fuchs N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7565055 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature