CLIP-domain serine proteases in Drosophila innate immunity

Extracellular proteases play an important role in a wide range of host physiological events, such as food digestion, extracellu-lar matrix degradation, coagulation and immunity. Among the large extracellular protease family, serine proteases that con-tain a "paper clip"-like domain and are therefore referred to as CLIP-domain serine protease (clip-SP), have been found to be involved in unique biological processes, such as immunity and development. Despite the increasing amount of biochemical information available regarding the structure and function of clip-SPs, their