Publications by authors named "Christina V Obiezu"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the expression of human tissue kallikreins (KLKs) and a serine protease inhibitor (SPINK5) in the pituitary gland, and their potential role in the proteolytic processing of human growth hormone (hGH).
- Researchers found that several KLKs (specifically KLKs 5-8, 10-14) and SPINK5 are present in the pituitary, with some KLKs capable of cleaving hGH into various isoforms in vitro.
- The study suggests a regulatory model where SPINK5 inhibits specific KLKs, which, if compromised (as seen in Netherton syndrome), could result in excessive processing of hGH
Background: Human kallikrein 4 (hK4) is a proteolytic enzyme belonging to the tissue kallikrein family of serine proteases. Previous tissue expression studies have demonstrated highest KLK4 mRNA expression in prostatic tissue, but there has been only limited evidence for the presence of hK4 protein in prostate and other tissues and in corresponding biological secretions.
Methods: To investigate the concentrations of hK4 in tissues and biological fluids, we developed a new hK4-specific sandwich-type immunoassay using a monoclonal antibody as the capture reagent.
Human tissue kallikrein genes, located on the long arm of chromosome 19, are a subgroup of the serine protease family of proteolytic enzymes. Initially thought to consist of three members, the human kallikrein locus has now been extended and includes 15 tandemly located genes. These genes, and their protein products, share a high degree of homology and are expressed in a wide array of tissues, mainly those that are under steroid hormone control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Kallikrein gene 5 (KLK5; formerly designated as kallikrein-like gene 2, or human stratum corneum tryptic enzyme) is one of the new members of the human kallikrein gene family on chromosome 19q13.4. Although it is expressed at low levels in various tissues, KLK5 expression is highest in the human mammary gland and testis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Human kallikrein 4 (gene, KLK4; protein, hK4), a recently discovered member of the kallikrein gene family, shares many characteristics with prostate-specific antigen, the best available marker for prostate cancer. Because the protein has not been detected in any human tissue, we attempted to develop immunologic methods for hK4 analysis and use them to detect hK4 in healthy and cancerous tissue extracts and biological fluids.
Methods: We extracted total RNA from 20 pairs of matched (healthy-cancer) prostate tissue samples.