Hemicentins:What have we learned from worms?

Hemicentins 被保存细胞外的矩阵蛋白质在 Caenorhabditis 发现了 elegans，与在包括人和老鼠的所有脊椎动物种类的 orthologs。Hemicentins 份额一个单个、高度保存的氨基终端的 von Willebrand A 领域，列在后面由一(】40 ) 长，免疫球蛋白的段重复，多重双人脚踏车表皮的生长因素和一个象 fibulin 一样 carboxy 终端模块。C。elegans 有在在调停 hemidesmosome 的房间连接和有弹性的像纤维的结构为房间移植和地下室膜侵略并且在稳定的接触被要求的短暂房间接触有多种的功能的单个 hemicentin 基因。这里，我们总结什么在 C 对 hemicentin 的功能被知道。elegans 并且在另外的种类为 hemicentin 功能讨论含意。

Hemicentins are conserved extracellular matrix proteins discovered in Caenorhabditis elegans, with orthologs in all vertebrate species including human and mouse. Hemicentins share a single, highly conserved amino-terminal von Willebrand A domain, followed by a long （〉40） stretch of immunoglobulin repeats, multiple tandem epidermal growth factors and a fibulin-like carboxy-terminal module. C. elegans has a single hemicentin gene that has pleiotropic functions in transient cell contacts that are required for cell migration and basement membrane invasion and in stable contacts at hemidesmosome-mediated cell junctions and elastic fiber-like structures. Here, we summarize what is known about the function ofhemicentin in C. elegans and discuss implications for hemicentin function in other species.