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Cathepsin
Pathway / Fibrous-cap degradation & rupture

Cathepsin

protein

Cathepsin proteolysis of extracellular matrix proteins weakens the fibrous cap and promotes plaque rupture.

Pathway placement
Cascade stepFibrous-cap degradation & rupture
Confidencehigh
RationaleCysteine protease degrades fibrous cap collagen and elastin; destabilizes plaque.
Also acts inVascular inflammation
Druggability
Not assessed (no mapped human gene target).

Type I vs non-Type I discrimination

ScoresLow-confidence (proxy)
R — rupture / Type-I
72
C — non-Type-I
77
A — assay feasibility
68
E — evidence strength
35
T1DI (composite)
11
Specificity differential (R−C)-4.9
Non-Type-I axis panel
Does this marker also move in each non-Type-I setting? mag 0–3; higher means less Type-I-specific. n/a = no evidence retrieved, which is not the same as no change.
No non-Type-I axis evidence retrieved.
Tier: light (literature co-occurrence proxy — lower confidence). See the discrimination table for all markers.

Assay & specimen

Class-level default (no specific cleared assay)— generic method inferred from analyte class; confirm against a specific product insert before use.
Specimen
Serum or plasma
Collection tube
Serum separator (gold/red-top, SST) · K2/K3-EDTA (lavender-top)
Method / principle
Sandwich immunoassay (ELISA) — research-grade unless a cleared assay exists
Reagent / substrate
Matched anti-target antibody pair (capture + labeled detection)
Platform
ELISA microplate or multiplex (Luminex/MSD)
Turnaround · availability
Send-out / research · Research-grade (no universal clinical assay)

Literature evidence(1)