REVIEW

Abstract: Cathepsin E belongs to the third class of enzymes — hydrolases, a subclass of peptide bond hydrolases and a sub-subclass of endopeptidases with aspartic catalytic sites. Cathepsin E is an endopeptidase with sub-strate specificity similar to that of cathepsin D. In a human organism, cathepsin E occurs in: erythrocytes, thy-mus, dendritic cells, epithelial M cells, microglia cells, Langerhans cells, lymphocytes, epithelium of gastrointes-tinal tract, urinary bladder, lungs, osteoclasts, spleen and lymphatic nodes. In human cells, loci of the gene of pre-procathepsin E are located on chromosome 1 in the region 1231-32. The catalytic site of cathepsin E is two residues of aspartic acid — Asp96 and Asn281, occurring in amino acid triads with sequences DTG96-98 and DTG281-283. To date, no particular role of cathepsin E in the metabolism of proteins in normal tissues has been found. However, it is known that there are many documented pathological conditions in which overexpressio