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Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Measuring Calpain Activity in Fixed and Living Cells by Flow Cytometry
Published on: July 8, 2010
Killing Two Angry Birds with One Stone: Autophagy Activation by Inhibiting Calpains in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
Jonasz Jeremiasz Weber1, Priscila Pereira Sena1, Elisabeth Singer1
1Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University of Tübingen, Calwerstraße 7, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Proteolytic machineries execute vital cellular functions and their disturbances are implicated in diverse medical conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases. Interestingly, calpains, a class of Ca2+-dependent regulatory proteases, can modulate the degradational system of autophagy by cleaving proteins involved in this pathway. Moreover, both machineries are common players in many molecular pathomechanisms and have been targeted individually or together, as a therapeutic strategy in experimental setups. In this review, we briefly introduce calpains and autophagy, with their roles in health and disease, and focus on their direct pathologically relevant interplay in neurodegeneration and beyond. The modulation of calpain activity may comprise a promising treatment approach to attenuate the deregulation of these two essential mechanisms.
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