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DATABASES |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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Serpins (serine protease inhibitors or classified inhibitor family I4) are the largest and most broadly distributed superfamily of protease inhibitors. Serpin-like genes have been identified in animals, poxviruses, plants, bacteria and archaea, and over 1,500 members of this family have been identified to date. Analysis of the available genomic data reveals that all multicellular eukaryotes have serpins: humans, Drosophila, Arabidopsis thaliana and Caenorhabditis elegans have 36, 13, 29, and about 9 serpin-like genes, respectively. In contrast, serpins in prokaryotes are sporadically distributed and most serpin-containing prokaryotes have only a single serpin gene.
The majority of serpins inhibit serine proteases, but serpins that inhibit caspases and papain-like cysteine proteases have also been identified. Rarely, serpins perform a noninhibitory function; for example, several human serpins function as hormone transporters and certain serpins function as molecular chaperones or tumor suppressors. A phylogenetic study of the superfamily divided the eukaryotic serpins into 16 ‘clades’ (termed A-P). The proteins are named SERPINXy, where X is the clade and y is the number within that clade; many serpins also have alternative names from before this classification was proposed specificity or inhibitory function .
Here, we summarize the evolution, structure and mechanism of serpin function and dysfunction.
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| SLIDE SHOW |
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