Kallikrein 7 (KLK7)

Kallikrein-related peptidase 7, also known as KLK7, Kallikreins are a subgroup of serine proteases having diverse physiological functions. Growing evidence suggests that many kallikreins are implicated in carcinogenesis and some have potential as novel cancer and other disease biomarkers.

This gene is one of the fifteen kallikrein subfamily members located in a cluster on chromosome 19. Its encoded enzyme is thought to be involved in the proteolysis of intercellular cohesive structures preceding desquamation, which is the shedding of the outermost layer of the epidermis. Alternative splicing of this gene results in two transcript variants encoding the same protein.