This gene encodes a member of the serpin family of proteins, a group of proteins that inhibit serine proteases. Thrombin, urokinase, plasmin and trypsin are among the proteases that this family member can inhibit. This gene is a susceptibility gene for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and for emphysema. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2012]
Forensic Context
A study in rhesus macaques identified the SERPINE2 as a shared upregulated differentially expressed gene in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy compared to adult human HCM [Rivas et al. DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-82770-4]. In a separate investigation, ultraviolet-B-induced inflammation in human and rat skin significantly upregulated the SERPINE2, with a fold change of 20.6 in human skin and 3.7 in rat skin, indicating its role in the inflammatory pain response [Dawes et al. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0093338].