Perlecan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perlecan[5] (PLC) also known as basement membrane-specific heparan sulfate proteoglycan core protein (HSPG) or heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 (HSPG2), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HSPG2 gene.[6][7][8][9] The HSPG2 gene codes for a 4,391 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 468,829. It is one of the largest known proteins. The name perlecan comes from its appearance as a "string of pearls" in rotary shadowed images.
Perlecan was originally isolated from a tumor cell line and shown to be present in all native basement membranes.[10] Perlecan is a large multidomain (five domains, labeled I-V)[5] proteoglycan that binds to and cross-links many extracellular matrix (ECM) components and cell-surface molecules.[11] Perlecan is synthesized by both vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells and deposited in the extracellular matrix of parahoxozoans.[12] Perlecan is highly conserved across species and the available data indicate that it has evolved from ancient ancestors by gene duplication and exon shuffling.[11]