title: Tetraspanin proteins as organisers of membrane microdomains and signalling complexes.
abstract: Tetraspanins are a group of hydrophobic proteins with four transmembrane domains and two extracellular loops, both with conserved residues. Some tetraspanins are cell specific and others are very ubiquitous. Tetraspanins interact with very different types of proteins such as integrins, membrane receptors, as well as intracellular signalling molecules. Tetraspanins can interact with other tetraspanins to form a larger complex, whose core is formed by six tetraspanins, surrounded several tetraspanin-associated proteins. These complexes can further aggregate and behave as a membrane microdomain. The great heterogeneity in their composition and the dynamics of tetraspanin complexes confers great flexibility on these proteins to participate in many different biological roles.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular del Cáncer, Centro de Investigación del Cáncer, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, E-37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yunta
authors.forename: Pedro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Lazo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface