Kallikrein

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Kallikreins are a subgroup of

skin desquamation
.

Occurrence

In 1934, Eugen Werle reported finding a substance in the pancreas of humans and various animals in such large amounts that the pancreas could be taken for its site of origin. He named it kallikrein, by derivation from the Greek word for pancreas. Since then, similar enzymes have been found in the biological fluids of humans and other mammals, as well as in some snake venoms.[1]

Venom

The caterpillar known as

Lagoa crispata contains poison glands attached to hypodermic spines, which produce and inject venom that has been characterized as kallikrein in nature.[2]

The venom of

shrews like the northern short-tailed shrew consist of multiple copies of kallikrein 1 (KLK1) serine proteases.[3] KLK1 are very similar to serine protease found in venomous snakes like vipers, and have evolved in parallel from a common toxin precursor,[4] which cause hypotensive effects in vivo.[5]

Plasma kallikrein

The KLKB1 gene encoding

4q34-35. It is synthesised as an inactive precursor, prekallikrein, which must undergo proteolytic processing to become activated. This is facilitated by factor XII, PRCP or other stimuli.[citation needed
]

Plasma kallikrein liberates

plasminogen
:

Fibrinolysis (simplified). Blue arrows denote stimulation, and red arrows inhibition.

Structure

Further information: Prekallikrein § Structure

Kallikrein is homologous to factor XI and consists of four apple domains and one serine protease domain.[citation needed]

Tissue kallikreins

Distinct from plasma kallikrein, tissue kallikreins (KLKs) are expressed throughout the human body and perform various physiological roles. As some kallikreins are able to catalyse the activation of other kallikreins, several cascades involving these proteases have been implicated in the regulation of homeostatic functions.[citation needed]

Function

Similar to KLKB1, three tissue kallikreins

KLK5 and KLK14 are expressed in the prostate and are thought to be responsible for regulating semen liquefaction through hydrolysis of semenogelin.[9][10] Desquamation of the skin is likely controlled by KLK5, KLK7 and KLK14, which are expressed in the outermost layer of the epidermis and cleave cellular adhesion proteins.[11] Additionally, KLK6 and KLK8 are associated with neuronal plasticity in the central nervous system.[12]

Genes

There are 15 known human tissue kallikreins:

KLK5, KLK6, KLK7, KLK8, KLK9, KLK10, KLK11, KLK12, KLK13, KLK14, KLK15[citation needed
]

Clinical significance

Kallikrein-related peptidases are targets of active investigation by drug researchers as possible biomarkers for cancer.[13][14]

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA; hk3, human kallikrein gene 3) and human glandular kallikrein (hK2) are used as tumor markers for prostate cancer.[citation needed]

Hereditary Angioedema
.

See also

References

  1. PMID 8906477
    .
  2. PMID 10736472
    .
  3. PMID 31772017
    .
  4. PMID 34949191
    .
  5. S2CID 2884850
    .
  6. PMID 1313585
    .
  7. ISBN 978-3-540-38916-3
    . Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  8. PMID 16255054
    .
  9. PMID 16517595
    .
  10. PMID 18056261
    .
  11. PMID 19726197
    .
  12. PMID 16308352
    .
  13. S2CID 382797
    .
  14. PMID 12142373
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kallikrein&oldid=1216606399"