Biotechnological Applications of Serine Proteases: A Patent Review

Background: Serine proteases have long been recognized to play key roles in various physiological processes. However, their disequilibrium can be linked to several diseases. Taking into account their wide diversity and specificity, they have been actively investigated by many industrial, academic and pharmaceutical industries. Objective: This review aims to provide a concise analysis of the described serine proteases as well as their relevant biotechnological and therapeutic applications. Method: Here, we give an overview of the recent knowledge on serine proteases with a particular focus on their biotechnological applications reported in European Patent Office (Espacenet), United States Patent and National Patent Collections (WIPO) patent databases. Results: Serine proteases are probably the enzymes that have been mostly studied over the past few decades. However, despite their increasing interest, no significant patent so far has dealt with the identity of overactive serine proteases in disease settings. Conclusion: This review displays that serine proteases have several relevant industrial uses. New potential applications of such proteins require more functional analyses seeing the key role of serine proteases in many biomedical and biotechnological processes.