title: Crystal structure of the LG1-3 region of the laminin alpha2 chain.
abstract: Laminins are large heterotrimeric glycoproteins with many essential functions in basement membrane assembly and function. Cell adhesion to laminins is mediated by a tandem of five laminin G-like (LG) domains at the C terminus of the alpha chain. Integrin binding requires an intact LG1-3 region, as well as contributions from the coiled coil formed by the alpha, beta, and gamma chains. We have determined the crystal structure at 2.8-A resolution of the LG1-3 region of the laminin alpha2 chain (alpha 2LG1-3). The three LG domains adopt typical beta-sandwich folds, with canonical calcium binding sites in LG1 and LG2. LG2 and LG3 interact through a substantial interface, but LG1 is completely dissociated from the LG2-3 pair. We suggest that the missing gamma chain tail may be required to stabilize the interaction between LG1 and LG2-3 in the biologically active conformation. A global analysis of N-linked glycosylation sites shows that the beta-sandwich faces of LG1 are free of carbohydrate modifications in all five laminin alpha chains, suggesting that these surfaces may harbor the integrin binding site. The alpha 2LG1-3 structure provides the first atomic view of the integrin binding region of laminins.
authors: Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
authors: Federico
authors: F
authors: Carafoli
authors: Naomi J
authors: NJ
authors: Clout
authors: Erhard
authors: E
authors: Hohenester
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D007797:Laminin / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D007797:Laminin; C102645:laminin alpha 2