Cell biology of pancreatic proteases

More than 100 years ago it was proposed that pancreatitis essentially is a disease in which the pancreas undergoes autodigestion by its own prematurely activated digestive enzymes. Why and how digestive zymogens autoactivate within the pancreas early in the disease process has been a matter of controversy and debate. Some of the mechanisms that are considered to be involved in digestive protease activation are inherited and as of recently can be tested for clinically. Here we review the most recent progress in elucidating the mechanisms involved in the onset of pancreatitis. We specifically focus on serine and cysteine proteases in the autodigestive cascade that precedes acinar cell injury and the biochemical processes involved in their activation.