Kallikrein 5 (KLK5)

KLK5 belongs to the kallikrein subgroup of serine proteases, which have diverse physiologic functions in many tissues. For background information on kallikreins.Using a positional candidate approach to identify additional KLK genes on 19q13.3-q13.4, followed by EST database searching and PCR, Yousef and Diamandis (1999) obtained a cDNA encoding KLK5, which they called KLKL2. RT-PCR analysis detected expression primarily in brain, mammary gland, and testis, with lower levels in other tissues.Kim et al. (2001) noted that KLK5 is expressed in a subset of ovarian tumors. They found a strong positive correlation between KLK5 expression and tumor grade and disease stage. They concluded that KLK5 expression is associated with more aggressive forms of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.