Layilin, a novel integral membrane protein, is a hyaluronan receptor.

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Bono P, Rubin K, Higgins JM, Hynes RO

Layilin, a novel integral membrane protein, is a hyaluronan receptor.

Mol Biol Cell. 2001 Apr;12(4):891-900.

PubMed ID

11294894 [ View in PubMed

]

Abstract

The actin cytoskeleton plays a significant role in changes of cell shape and motility, and interactions between the actin filaments and the cell membrane are crucial for a variety of cellular processes. Several adaptor proteins, including talin, maintain the cytoskeleton-membrane linkage by binding to integral membrane proteins and to the cytoskeleton. Layilin, a recently characterized transmembrane protein with homology to C-type lectins, is a membrane-binding site for talin in peripheral ruffles of spreading cells. To facilitate studies of layilin's function, we have generated a layilin-Fc fusion protein comprising the extracellular part of layilin joined to human immunoglobulin G heavy chain and used this chimera to identify layilin ligands. Here, we demonstrate that layilin-Fc fusion protein binds to hyaluronan immobilized to Sepharose. Microtiter plate-binding assays, coprecipitation experiments, and staining of sections predigested with different glycosaminoglycan-degrading enzymes and cell adhesion assays all revealed that layilin binds specifically to hyaluronan but not to other tested glycosaminoglycans. Layilin's ability to bind hyaluronan, a ubiquitous extracellular matrix component, reveals an interesting parallel between layilin and CD44, because both can bind to cytoskeleton-membrane linker proteins through their cytoplasmic domains and to hyaluronan through their extracellular domains. This parallelism suggests a role for layilin in cell adhesion and motility.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets

Drug	Target	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Hyaluronic acid	Layilin	Protein	Humans	Unknown	Binder	Details

Polypeptides

Name	UniProt ID
Layilin	Q6UX15	Details