Masoumeh Hosseini
1, Hossein Najmabadi
1, Kimia Kahrizi
1*1 Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*Corresponding Author: *Corresponding Authors: Kimia Kahrizi MD, Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Email: kahrizi@ yahoo.com; Hossein Najmabadi, Email: hnajm12@yahoo.com, Email:
Abstract
Calpains are a group of non-lysosomal Ca2+-dependent cysteine proteases with numerous substrates. Calpains have been identified
in almost all eukaryotes and bacteria but not in archaebacteria. In the human genome, this group of enzymes has 15 isoforms and
is present ubiquitously and demonstrates tissue-specific patterns of expression. Calpains are involved in different physiological
and pathological processes such as cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and signal transduction and their roles in
various disorders have been reported. In this review, functions of calpains, their substrates, their mechanism of regulation and their
involvement in diseases have been summarized.