hK7, also known as human stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme, was first identified in human skin extracts (15).
Stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme: a proteinase which may be generally present in the stratum corneum and with a possible involvement in desquamation.
Human stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (hK7; HSCCE) (9,10), one of the few tissue kallikreins for which a physiologic function has been proposed, catalyzes the degradation of intercellular cohesive structures in the outermost layer of the skin and contributes to the cell shedding process at the skin surface (11).
The stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme that mediates shedding and desquamation of skin cells is highly overexpressed in ovarian tumor cells.
Human stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (HSCCE) [4] is a chymotrypsin-like serine protease that was first identified in human skin extracts (1) and Alzheimer disease brain (US Patent 6,093,397).
Immunolocalization of stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme in human skin and oral epithelium with monoclonal antibodies: evidence of a proteinase specifically expressed in keratinizing squamous epithelia.
(b) HSCCE, human
stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme; NES1, normal epithelial cell-specific 1 gene; TLSP, trypsin-like serine protease.
Two additional kallikrein genes, KLKS (also known as neuropsin or TADG-14) (18) and the gene that encodes
stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (19,20) are upregulated in ovarian cancer.
The role that pro- and
stratum corneum chymotryptic enzymes (SCCE) play in desquamation was the topic of the next speaker's presentation.