organisms and play crucial roles in various biological and physiological
processes. Proteinases are part of several proteolytic
cascades that are key components of the innate immune system of
shrimps and serve important roles in several related biochemical
pathways, such as those involved in apoptosis and melanization.
Protease inhibitors, on the other hand, precisely regulate the
pathway in order to prevent excessive activation of cascades and
prevent consequent damage to host tissue. Moreover, host
proteinase inhibitors also function in the inhibition and clearance
the proteases of invading microorganisms. In shrimps, several
proteinases and proteinase inhibitors have been reported that are
linked to the immune system