Maspin (mammary serine protease inhibitor) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SERPINB5 gene.[5] This protein belongs to the serpin (serine protease inhibitor) superfamily.[5] SERPINB5 was originally reported to function as a tumor suppressor gene in epithelial cells, suppressing the ability of cancer cells to invade and metastasize to other tissues.[6] Furthermore, and consistent with an important biological function, Maspin knockout mice were reported to be non-viable, dying in early embryogenesis.[7] However, a subsequent study using viral transduction as a method of gene transfer (rather than single cell cloning) was not able to reproduce the original findings and found no role for maspin in tumour biology.[8] Furthermore, the latter study demonstrated that maspin knockout mice are viable and display no obvious phenotype.[8] These data are consistent with the observation that maspin is not expressed in early embryogenesis.[8] The precise molecular function of maspin is thus currently unknown.
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