Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type-2 (HAI-2)/ contributes to invasive growth of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor (HAI)-1/ and HAI-2/ are membrane-anchored protease inhibitors having homologous Kunitz-type inhibitor domains. They regulate membrane-anchored serine proteases, such as matriptase and prostasin. Whereas HAI-1 suppresses the neoplastic progression of keratinocytes to invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) through matriptase inhibition, the role of HAI-2 in keratinocytes is poorly understood.