| Background | Kallikreins are a subgroup of serine proteases having diverse physiological functions. Growing evidence suggests that many kallikreins are implicated in carcinogenesis and some have potential as novel cancer and other disease biomarkers. The gene is one of the fifteen kallikrein subfamily members located in a cluster on chromosome 19. It encodes a single-chain glycoprotein, a protease which is synthesized in the epithelial cells of the prostate gland, and is present in seminal plasma. It is thought to function normally in the liquefaction of seminal coagulum, presumably by hydrolysis of the high molecular mass seminal vesicle protein. The serum level of this protein, called PSA in the clinical setting, is useful in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostatic carcinoma. Alternate splicing of this gene generates several transcript variants encoding different isoforms. |
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