Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Athens. 157 01, Panepistimiopolis, Athens, Greece \\\/ ascorilas@biol.uoa.gr
Kallikreins (KLKs) represent the largest cluster of serine peptidases, which is composed of 15 members (KLK1-15). The human kallikrein-related peptidase 9 gene (KLK9), like the rest of the KLK genes, encodes for a trypsin-like serine peptidase. Serine peptidases are a group of protein-cleaving enzymes that contain a serine residue in their active site. Kallikreins constitute a subfamily of serine peptidases that cleave kininogen and release vasoactive peptides (kinins). The human KLK9 gene is located at 19q13.41 and consists of 5 exons and 4 intervening introns. Although KLK9 expression has been detected in various normal human tissues, differences in mRNA and protein expression levels have been observed. Like other KLKs, KLK9 is found differentially expressed in multiple human malignancies. Clinical studies regarding the KLK9 expression analysis in breast cancer tissues have demonstrated that KLK9 mRNA expression possesses significant prognostic ability and therefore could be a strong, independent marker of favorable prognosis in patients with breast cancer. In addition, the prognostic potential of the KLK9 mRNA expression levels in ovarian cancer has been clarified, since patients with KLK9-positive tumors demonstrate significantly longer progression-free and overall survival in comparison with KLK9-negative patients. Finally, KLK9 could serve as a prognostic biomarker for patients diagnosed with high-grade astrocytoma, as its expression level is associated with decreased survival of patients. Although the precise localization and structure of the KLK9 gene has now been fully characterized, its functional roles and connections to human diseases are still incompletely understood and merit further investigation.
NCBI: 284366 MIM: 605504 HGNC: 6370 Ensembl: ENSG00000213022
dbSNP: 284366 ClinVar: 284366 TCGA: ENSG00000213022 COSMIC: KLK9
Panagiotis G. Adamopoulos ; Andreas Scorilas
KLK9 (kallikrein-related peptidase 9)
Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. 2016-09-01
Online version: http://atlasgeneticsoncology.org/gene/47324