A laminin receptor was isolated from human MG-63 osteosarcoma cells by affinity chromatography on human laminin. The isolated receptor was defined as the alpha 3 beta 1 integrin by immunoprecipitation with subunit-specific antibodies. A previously unclassified laminin-binding integrin from rat cells was shown also to contain the alpha 3 subunit. Both receptors bound to human and mouse laminin i...

Laminin-1 is a major component and multifunctional glycoprotein of basement membranes that consists of three different subunits, alpha1, beta1 and gamma11 chains. It is the earliest synthesized network-forming protein during embryogenesis and plays an important role in embryonic development, embryonic implantation and placentation. We have recently shown that IgG anti-laminin-1 antibodies were ...

Purpose: Preferential expression of the g2 chain of laminin-5 in invading carcinoma cells has been implicated in tumor invasion. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of laminin g2 chain expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Experimental Design: We analyzed the association between immunohistochemically detected laminin g2 chai...

Basement membranes are sheet like extracellular matrices that underlie or surround many cell types. They are crucial for key cellular events such as cell migration, proliferation, survival and differentiation. Vital components of all basement membranes are laminins, heterotrimeric combinations of different laminin chain isoforms. The different laminins and their subunits largely have a developm...

Sickle red blood cell (RBC) adhesion to the endothelium and to exposed, underlying subendothelial proteins is believed to contribute to vascular occlusion in sickle cell disease. Laminin, a major component of the subendothelium, supports significant adhesion of sickle, but not normal RBCs. The purpose of this study was to define the adhesive region for sickle RBCs within a human laminin prepara...

The presence of many laminin receptors of the beta1 integrin family on most cells makes it difficult to define the biological functions of other major laminin receptors such as integrin alpha6beta4 and dystroglycan. We therefore tested the binding of a beta1 integrin-null cell line GD25 to four different laminin variants. The cells were shown to produce dystroglycan, which based on affinity chr...

Synapses in the developing brain are structurally dynamic but become stable by early adulthood. We demonstrate here that an α5-subunit-containing laminin stabilizes synapses during this developmental transition. Hippocampal neurons deposit laminin α5 at synapses during adolescence as connections stabilize. Disruption of laminin α5 in neurons causes dramatic fluctuations in dendritic spine head ...

background: spermatogonial stem cells are subpopulation of spermatogonial cells in testis tissue that support beginning and maintenance of spermatogenesis. ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase l1 (uchl1) could be a specific marker for identification of spermatogonial stem cells including spermatogonial sperm cells (sscs) in testis tissue and during the culture; therefore we undertook this study...

The polymerization of laminin into a cell-associated network--a key step in basement membrane assembly--is mediated by the laminin amino-terminal (LN) domains at the tips of the three short arms of the laminin αβγ-heterotrimer. The crystal structure of a laminin α5LN-LE1-2 fragment shows that the LN domain is a β-jelly roll with several elaborate insertions that is attached like a flower head t...

A mixture of laminin and type IV collagen was analyzed by rotary shadowing using carbon/platinum and electron microscopy. Laminin was found to form distinct complexes with type IV collagen: one site of interaction is located 140 nm from the COOH-terminal, noncollagenous (NC1) domain and the other is located within the NH2-terminal region. The isolated NC1 fragment of type IV collagen does not a...