title: Identification and characterization of asporin. a novel member of the leucine-rich repeat protein family closely related to decorin and biglycan.
abstract: Asporin, a novel member of the leucine-rich repeat family of proteins, was partially purified from human articular cartilage and meniscus. Cloning of human and mouse asporin cDNAs revealed that the protein is closely related to decorin and biglycan. It contains a putative propeptide, 4 amino-terminal cysteines, 10 leucine-rich repeats, and 2 C-terminal cysteines. In contrast to decorin and biglycan, asporin is not a proteoglycan. Instead, asporin contains a unique stretch of aspartic acid residues in its amino-terminal region. A polymorphism was identified in that the number of consecutive aspartate residues varied from 11 to 15. The 8 exons of the human asporin gene span 26 kilobases on chromosome 9q31.1-32, and the putative promoter region lacks TATA consensus sequences. The asporin mRNA is expressed in a variety of human tissues with higher levels in osteoarthritic articular cartilage, aorta, uterus, heart, and liver. The deduced amino acid sequence of asporin was confirmed by mass spectrometry of the isolated protein resulting in 84% sequence coverage. The protein contains an N-glycosylation site at Asn(281) with a heterogeneous oligosaccharide structure and a potential O-glycosylation site at Ser(54). The name asporin reflects the aspartate-rich amino terminus and the overall similarity to decorin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Section for Connective Tissue Biology, Lund University, BMC plan C12, SE-221 84 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lorenzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aspberg
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Onnerfjord
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bayliss
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Neame
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heinegard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D058578:Biglycan; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000737:chemistry; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002899:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D058575:Decorin; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000737:chemistry*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: C439889:ASPN protein, human; C511592:Aspn protein, mouse; C546884:BGN protein, human; C546885:Bgn protein, mouse; D058578:Biglycan; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C546878:DCN protein, human; D018076:DNA, Complementary; C546879:Dcn protein, mouse; D058575:Decorin; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D000090263:Leucine-Rich Repeat Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011509:Proteoglycans