ABSTRACT
Many natural processes depend on the action of proteinases and peptidases. Their role in the biochemistry of living organisms is to catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds, which results in the degradation of proteins or peptides. The modern history of aspartic proteinases and the recognition of their importance in human physiology was marked by the work of Theodor Schwann in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The patho-physiological importance, as well as the potential of industrial applications, initiated extensive research in genetics, structures, catalytic properties and biological functions associated with aspartic proteinases. Aspartic proteinases of other organisms will be discussed only in the cases where the information related to them can help us directly in the understanding of the function of human-related aspartic proteinases. From a historical point of view, aspartic proteinases were known for millennia from food processing.
