The cysteine peptidase cathepsin B is important in thyroid physiology by being involved in prohormone processing initiated in the follicle lumen and completed in endo-lysosomal compartments. However, cathepsin B has also been localized to the extrafollicular space in thyroid cancer tissue, and is therefore suggested to promote invasiveness and metastasis in thyroid carcinomas through e.g. extracellular matrix degradation.
School of Engineering and Science, Research Center for Molecular Life Science, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany. s.tedelind@jacobs-university.de.
