title: Identification of a novel cell-adhesive protein spatiotemporally expressed in the basement membrane of mouse developing hair follicle.
abstract: We used PCR-based cDNA subtraction to screen for genes up-regulated during mouse hair morphogenesis. One gene selected was predominantly expressed at the tip of developing hair follicles and encoded a protein characterized by the presence of twelve tandem repeats of approximately 120 amino acids and a novel N-terminal domain containing an Arg-Gly-Asp cell-adhesive motif. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the protein encoded by this gene, named QBRICK, was localized at the basement membrane zone of embryonic epidermis and hair follicles, in which it was more enriched at the tip rather than the stalk region. Cell adhesion assays showed that QBRICK was active in mediating cell-substratum adhesion through integrins containing alphav or alpha8 chain, but not integrin alpha5beta1. Immunohistochemistry showed that QBRICK colocalized with alphav-containing integrins in the interfollicular region, but with the alpha8-containing integrin at the tip region of developing hair follicles. These results, together, indicate that QBRICK is an adhesive ligand of basement membrane distinctively recognized by cells in the embryonic skin and hair follicles through different types of integrins directed to the Arg-Gly-Asp motif.
authors.affiliation: Sekiguchi Biomatrix Signaling Project, ERATO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Aichi Medical University, 21 Karimata, Nagakute, Aichi 480-1195, Japan.
authors.forename: Daiji
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kiyozumi
authors.forename: Aki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osada
authors.forename: Nagisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Charles N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Kiyotoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekiguchi
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000825:Animal Structures / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D016023:Integrins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020014:K562 Cells; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; C492585:Frem1 protein, mouse; C519661:Frem3 protein, mouse; D016023:Integrins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C094866:integrin alpha8beta1