Figure 3. Proteolytic activities of cathepsin C in tissue extract supernatants and gingival crevicular fluid samples from healthy and diseased patients. Activity of cathepsin C in tissue extract supernatants (TES) and gingival crevicular fluid samples (GCFs) from healthy and diseased patients was determined by measurement of the amount of 7-amido-4 methyl-coumarin (AMC) released by hydrolysis of the synthetic substrate H-Gly-Arg-AMC. The AMC formed was monitored by means of a VersaFluor Multiple-Wavelength fluorometer luminescence spectrometer at 370-nm excitation and 460-nm emission. Results were obtained from three different experiments (n = 3) and expressed as mean ± SE of µMoles of AMC produced/min/mg of total proteins in the sample. (*) indicated that the Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test showed a statistically significant difference between diseased and healthy tissue extract supernatants (p < 0.006) and between diseased and healthy gingival crevicular fluid samples (p < 0.003).