家蚕(Bombyx mori)作为鳞翅目模式昆虫,较早开展了组织蛋白酶研究,其中以对家蚕半胱氨酸蛋白酶(cysteine protease)的研究居多.半胱氨酸蛋白酶参与了家蚕生长发育、蜕皮变态和免疫调节等生命活动过程.本文重点综述近几年国内外学者在家蚕半胱氨酸蛋白酶分类、基因表达特征、生物学功能研究方面取得的新进展,并简要阐述对家蚕半胱氨酸蛋白酶研究的主要方面.“,”The research on cathepsin of model lepidopteran insect silkworm (Bombyx mori) has been carried earlier,in which most studies have been focused on cysteine protease.Cysteine protease takes a key role in many silkworm biological processes including growth and development,molting and metamorphosis,and immunoregulatoion.In this paper,the latest domestic and overseas research progresses on taxonomy,gene expression profile and biological function of cysteine protease of silkworm in recent years are summarized,and the trend of future studies on silkworm cysteine protease is briefly analyzed.