Recombinant human cysteine protease inhibitor, stefin A, was expressed in both E. coli and BSC-1 monkey kidney cells utilizing pET and recombinant Vaccinia virus systems, respectively. The expressed protein was purified and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis utilizing a polyclonal antibody against rat cystatin α. In both cases the purified protein appeared as a single band corresponding to the molecular weight of stefin A (~10 kDa). Viability of the expressed stefin A was determined by the inhibition of the plant cysteine protease, papain. Recombinant human stefin A expressed in both E. coli and BSC-1 cells was shown to almost completely inhibit papain. The expression of a fully functional recombinant human stefin A in the bacterial system provides a highly efficient tool for the production of large quantities of the protein. This can be an important tool in kinetic studies as well as in production of antibodies for other analytical studies (immunoblot, immunohistochemical studies, etc.). Expression in the mammalian cells on the other hand, can provide a significant research tool to study the functional roles of stefin A in the mammalian systems such as the regulation of cysteine proteases.