pancreatic thread protein

or pancreatic stone protein

(abbr.: PSP); a C-type lectin that may inhibit spontaneous calcium carbonate precipitation, and one of the major secretory proteins of the human exocrine pancreas. It is found in acinar cells of pancreas and (in smaller amounts) in the brain. It is a major soluble protein of human pancreatic calculi, and a Ca²⁺- binding phosphoprotein present in zymogen granules of pancreatic acinar cells, and secreted in pancreatic juice of normal subjects and calculus formers. It inhibits calcium carbonate precipitation from the juice. The protein is rich in aromatic amino acids. Between pH 5.4 and 9.2, it undergoes reversible fibril formation. It is also typically characteristic of infant brains. There is increased expression of PSP-like proteins in Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.

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