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    Cell Res. 2006 Nov;16(11):872-8.

    Hemicentins: what have we learned from worms?

    Source

    Program in Cell Structure and Development, Medical Biotechnology Center, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 725 W. Lombard St., Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. vogel@umbi.umd.edu

    Abstract

    Hemicentins are conserved extracellular matrix proteins discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, with orthologs in all vertebrate species including human and mouse. Hemicentins share a single, highly conserved amino-terminal von Willebrand A domain, followed by a long (>40) stretch of immunoglobulin repeats, multiple tandem epidermal growth factors and a fibulin-like carboxy-terminal module. C. elegans has a single hemicentin gene that has pleiotropic functions in transient cell contacts that are required for cell migration and basement membrane invasion and in stable contacts at hemidesmosome-mediated cell junctions and elastic fiber-like structures. Here, we summarize what is known about the function of hemicentin in C. elegans and discuss implications for hemicentin function in other species.

    PMID:
    17031392
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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