Cathepsin D is a ubiquitously expressed lysosomal aspartyl protease involved in the normal degradation of proteins. It is synthesized as an inactive 43 kDa preprocathepsin D that is cleaved and glycosylated to form a 46 kDa procathepsin D and then further cleaved to produce 28 kDa and 15 kDa subunits (heavy and light chains, respectively) . Cathepsin D exhibits pepsin-like activity and plays a role in protein turnover and in the proteolytic activation of hormones and growth factors. Mutations in this gene play a causal role in neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis-10 and may be involved in the pathogenesis of several other diseases, including breast cancer and possibly Alzheimer's disease. Primary antibodies are available purified, or with a selection of fluorescent CF® Dyes and other labels. CF® Dyes offer exceptional brightness and photostability. Note: Conjugates of blue fluorescent dyes like CF®405S and CF®405M are not recommended for detecting low abundance targets, because blue dyes have lower fluorescence and can give higher non-specific background than other dye colors.