What does the laminin protein look like?

What does the laminin protein look like?

Laminin is a large (900 kDa) mosaic protein composed of many distinct domains with different structures and functions. Globular and rodlike domains are arranged in an extended four-armed, cruciform shape that is well suited for mediating between distant sites on cells and other components of the extracellular matrix.

Is laminin a cell adhesion protein?

Laminin is a very complex adhesion protein that is generally present in the basement membrane, the proteins immediately beneath the epithelia and endothelia, as well as in many other tissues, as reviewed in detail elsewhere [33–35].

Is laminin an adhesion molecule?

Laminin is a complex adhesion protein found in the ECM, especially within the basement membrane (Schwarzbauer, 1999). This protein plays an important role in early embryonic development, and is perhaps the best studied of the ECM proteins found within embryonic bodies (Li et al., 2002).

What is a laminin cell?

Laminin is a heterotrimeric glycoprotein with a key role in the formation and maintenance of the basement membrane architecture and properties, as well as on the modulation of several biological functions, including cell adhesion, migration, differentiation and matrix-mediated signaling.

What is laminin and its function?

Laminins are glycoproteins with both common and specific functions. One common and most important function of laminins is to interact with receptors anchored in the plasma membrane of cells adjacent to basement membranes. In doing so laminins regulate multiple cellular activities and signaling pathways.

What is laminin used for?

The laminin family of glycoproteins are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every tissue of an organism. They are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices. Laminin is vital for the maintenance and survival of tissues.

What does the laminin protein do?

What is laminin and what does it look like?

Laminins are heterotrimeric proteins that contain an α-chain, a β-chain, and a γ-chain, found in five, four, and three genetic variants, respectively. The laminin molecules are named according to their chain composition. Thus, laminin-511 contains α5, β1, and γ1 chains.

What is the purpose of laminin?

What does laminin protein do?