Serpin B3 Protein, Human, Recombinant (His)

SERPINB3, also known as SCCA-1, belongs to the serpin family. Serpins are a group of proteins with similar structures that were first identified as a set of proteins able to inhibit proteases. The acronym serpin was originally coined because many serpins inhibit chymotrypsin-like serine proteases. SERPINB3 is expressed in some hepatocellular carcinoma (at protein level) . Its expression is closely related to cellular differentiation in both normal and malignant squamous cells. It seems to also be secreted in plasma by cancerous cells but at a low level. SERPINB3 significantly attenuates apoptosis by contrasting cytochrome c release from the mitochondria and by antichemotactic effect for NK cells. It may act as a protease inhibitor to modulate the host immune response against tumor cells and may be involved in the malignant behavior of squamous cell carcinoma cells.