title: Functions of the conserved thrombospondin carboxy-terminal cassette in cell-extracellular matrix interactions and signaling.
abstract: Thrombospondins (TSPs) are extracellular, multidomain, calcium-binding glycoproteins that function at cell surfaces, in extracellular matrix (ECM) and as bridging molecules in cell-cell interactions. TSPs are multifunctional and modulate cell behavior during development, wound-healing, immune response, tumor growth and in the homeostasis of adult tissues. TSPs are assembled as oligomers that are composed of homologous polypeptides. In all the TSP polypeptides, the most highly-conserved region is the carboxyl-region, which contains a characteristic set of domains comprising EGF domains, TSP type 3 repeats and a globular carboxy-terminal domain. This large region is termed here the thrombospondin carboxy-terminal cassette (TSP-CTC). The strong conservation of the TSP-CTC suggests that it may mediate ancestral functions that are shared by all TSPs. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the TSP-CTC and areas of future interest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, NC1-110, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. adamsj@ccf.org
authors.forename: Josephine C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019699:Thrombospondins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019699:Thrombospondins