Border patrol: insights into the unique role of perlecan/heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 at cell and tissue borders.

ABSTRACT: The extracellular matrix proteoglycan (ECM) perlecan, also known as heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 or HSPG2, is one of the largest (>200 nm) and oldest (>550 M years) extracellular matrix molecules. In vertebrates, perlecan's five-domain structure contains numerous independently folding modules with sequence similarities to other ECM proteins, all connected like cars into one long, diverse complex train following a unique N-terminal domain I decorated with three long glycosaminoglycan chains, and an additional glycosaminoglycan attachment site in the C-terminal domain V. In lower invertebrates, perlecan is not typically a proteoglycan, possessing the majority of the core protein modules, but lacking domain I where the attachment sites for glycosaminoglycan chains are located. This suggests

SUBMITTER: Farach-Carson MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3938997 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature