title: Type A modules: interacting domains found in several non-fibrillar collagens and in other extracellular matrix proteins.
abstract: A 200-amino acid long motif first recognized in von Willebrand Factor (type A module) has been found in components of the extracellular matrix, hemostasis, cellular adhesion, and immune defense mechanisms. At present the extracellular matrix is the predominant site of expression of type A modules since at least four non-fibrillar collagens and two non-collagenous proteins contain a variable number of modules ranging from one to twelve. The modules conform to a consensus motif made of short conserved subregions separated by stretches of variable length. The proteins that incorporate type A modules participate in numerous biological events such as cell adhesion, migration, homing, pattern formation, and signal transduction after interaction with a large array of ligands.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Oncologia Sperimentale 2, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colombatti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonaldo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doliana
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002645:Chickens; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005091:Exons; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D003094:Collagen