Increase in cathepsin D activity in rat brain in aging

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Abstract
Cathepsin D‐like activity in homogenates of five brain areas of 3‐month‐old and 24‐month‐old Fischer 344 rats was measured. With hemoglobin as substrate at pH 3.2, more than 90% of the activity was inhibited by pepstatin. In each area studied, activity was more than twice as high in the old rat brain: 140–160% higher in the cortex, cerebellum, pons‐medulla, and striatum and 90–100% higher in the hippocampus and spinal cord. The greatly increased metabolic capacity in the absence of an increase in protein turnover may have a role in age‐related pathological degeneration in the brain.