| abstract |
Here we describe the molecular identification of a cDNA encoding a novel serine protease we have termed protease T. The deduced amino acid sequence encodes a prepro form of 290 amino acids, and its alignment with other well- characterized serine proteases indicates that it is a member of the S1 serin e protease family. We have found that the protease T mRNA is expressed in stomach, testis, retina, fibroblasts, spinal cord, and several regions of th e brain. Protease T mRNA is also found in leukocytes and in the Jurkat (ATCC T IB- 152) T cell line. Thus, this protease is potentially involved in gastric, testicular, retinal, dematological, neurological/neurodegenerative and/or immunological disorders. The protease T gene maps to human chromosome 16p13. 3 which is near the tryptase locus. Enzymatically active protease T, we have generated, is amenable to further biochemical analyses for the identificatio n of physiological substrates and specific modulators. |