Neprilysin/CD10

Neprilysin (CD10) , is a zinc-dependent Metalloprotease enzyme that degrades a number of small small secreted peptides, most notably the amyloid peptide implicated as a cause of Alzhemier’s Disease.

It is expressed on the cells of lymphoblastic, Burkitt's, and follicular germinal center lymphomas, immature B cells within adult bone marrow and on cells from patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML). CD10 is also present on breast myoepithelial cells, bile canaliculi, fibroblasts, with especially high expression on the brush border of kidney and gut epithelial cells.

Neprilysin is also associated with other biochemical processes, and is particularly highly expressed in kidney and lung tissues. Inhibitors have been designed with the aim of developing analgesic and antihypertensive agents that act by preventing neprilysin's activity against signaling peptides such as enkephalins, substance P, endothelin, and atrial natriuretic factor