Nematode collagen genes.
The collagen genes of nematodes encode proteins that have a diverse range of functions. Among their most abundant products are the cuticular collagens, which include about 80% of the proteins present in the nematode cuticle. The structures of these collagens have been found to be strikingly similar in the free-living and parasitic nematode species studied so far, and the genes that encode them appear to constitute a large multigene family whose expression is subject to developmental regulation. Collagen genes that may have a role in cell-cell interactions and collagen genes that correspond to the vertebrate type IV collagen genes have also been identified and studied in nematodes.
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Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK.