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 serine protease family. We have
found that the protease T mRNA is expressed in stomach, testis, retina, fibroblasts,
spinal cord, and several regions of the brain. Protease T mRNA is also found in
leukocytes and in the Jurkat (ATCC TIB-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 identification of physiological
substrates and specific modulators.
