Molecular cloning of bomapin (protease inhibitor 10), a novel human serpin that is expressed specifically in the bone marrow

Serine proteinase inhibitors or serpins are a super-family of homologous proteins that are for the most part involved in the regulation of proteolytic processes in a variety of biological systems. Utilizing a polymerase chain reaction-based strategy we have cloned a novel member of the ovalbumin family of serpins from a human bone marrow cDNA library. The new gene encodes a 397-amino acid protein, designated bomapin, with a calculated molecular mass of 45 kDa and 48% amino acid identity with plasminogen activator inhibitor-2, human Leukocyte Elastase Inhibitor, and cytoplasmic antiproteinase. A single 2.3-kilobase bomapin transcript is highly expressed in human bone marrow cells but was undetectable in all other analyzed human tissues. In vitro transcription and translation of the bomapin cDNA revealed the synthesis of an appropriately sized protein that was able to form SDS-stable complexes with Thrombin and trypsin. The restricted expression of bomapin to the bone marrow raises the possibility that this serpin may play a role in the regulation of protease activities during hematopoiesis.