Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Nanopodia - Thin, Fragile Membrane Projections with Roles in Cell Movement and Intercellular Interactions
Published on: April 3, 2014
Cathepsin H mediates the processing of talin and regulates migration of prostate cancer cells
Zala Jevnikar1, Matija Rojnik, Polona Jamnik
1Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. zala.jevnikar@ffa.uni-lj.si
Abstract:
The cytoskeletal protein talin, an actin- and β-integrin tail-binding protein, plays an important role in cell migration by promoting integrin activation and focal adhesion formation. Here, we show that talin is a substrate for cathepsin H (CtsH), a lysosomal cysteine protease with a strong aminopeptidase activity. Purified active CtsH sequentially cleaved a synthetic peptide representing the N terminus of the talin F0 head domain. The processing of talin by CtsH was determined also in the metastatic PC-3 prostate cancer cell line, which exhibits increased expression of CtsH. The attenuation of CtsH aminopeptidase activity by a specific inhibitor or siRNA-mediated silencing significantly reduced the migration of PC-3 cells on fibronectin and invasion through Matrigel. We found that in migrating PC-3 cells, CtsH was co-localized with talin in the focal adhesions. Furthermore, specific inhibition of CtsH increased the activation of α(v)β(3)-integrin on PC-3 cells. We propose that CtsH-mediated processing of talin might promote cancer cell progression by affecting integrin activation and adhesion strength.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin homology) domains...
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Cytoskeletal Coordination in Cell Migration
