Hepsin (HPN)

Hepsin encodes a type II transmembrane serine protease. The encoded protein has an extracellular region that consists of two domains, a catalytic serine protease domain and a non-catalytic scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain.

This protein may be involved in diverse cellular functions including blood coagulation, maintenance of cell morphology and the growth and progression of certain cancers, particularly prostate cancer. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants.It is present in the plasma membrane in a molecular orientation of type II membrane-associated proteins, with its catalytic subunit (C-terminal half) at the cell surface and its N terminus facing the cytosol. Hepsin is not found in cytosol. See also TMPRSS2, a related serine protease.