Kallikrein-related peptidase 4 induces tumour microenvironment alterations that support tumour growth

Kallikrein-related peptidase 4\ud (KLK4) is a protease with elevated production\ud in prostate cancer versus benign tissue.\ud KLK4 expression is associated with\ud prostate cancer risk, and its activity\ud favours tumour progression through\ud increasing cell motility and growth.\ud Importantly, over-production of KLK4 in\ud prostate glandular cells precedes tumour\ud formation, positioning the enzyme to play\ud a role in early remodelling of the tumour\ud microenvironment, a process essential for\ud tumour growth. We sought to identify the\ud proteins and downstream signalling pathways\ud targeted by KLK4 activity, to define\ud its role in tumour microenvironment\ud remodelling and evaluate the efficacy of\ud KLK4 inhibition as a cancer therapy