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Lectican

Lecticans, also known as hyalectans, are a family of large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans found in the extracellular matrix. There are four members of the lectican family: aggrecan, brevican, neurocan, and versican.[1] Lecticans interact with hyaluronic acid and tenascin-R to form a ternary complex.[2]

Tissue distribution

Aggregan and versican are widely distributed throughout all tissues. Where aggrecan is a major extracellular matrix constituent in cartilage, versican is widely expressed in a number of connective tissues, including those in vascular smooth muscle, skin, and the cells of central and peripheral nervous systems.[3] Brevican and neurocan are primarily restricted to the central nervous system (CNS)[2][3] and are particularly abundant in perineuronal nets.[4]

Structure

All four lecticans contain an N-terminal globular domain (G1 domain) that in turn contains an immunoglobulin V-set domain and a Link domain that binds hyaluronic acid; a long extended central domain (CS) that is modified with covalently attached sulfated glycosaminoglycan chains, and a C-terminal globular domain (G3 domain) containing one or more EGF repeats, a C-type lectin domain and a CRP-like domain. Aggrecan has in addition a globular domain (G2 domain) that is situated between the G1 and CS domains.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ruoslahti, E (1996). "Brain extracellular matrix". Glycobiology. 6 (5): 489–92. doi:10.1093/glycob/6.5.489. PMID 8877368.
  2. ^ a b c Yamaguchi Y (2000). "Lecticans: organizers of the brain extracellular matrix". Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 57 (2): 276–89. doi:10.1007/PL00000690. PMC 11146776. PMID 10766023. S2CID 15744515.
  3. ^ a b Viapiano, Mariano S.; Matthews, Russell T. (2006). "From barriers to bridges: chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans in neuropathology". Trends in Molecular Medicine. 12 (10): 488–496. doi:10.1016/j.molmed.2006.08.007.
  4. ^ Fawcett, JW; Fyhn, M; Jendelova, P; Kwok, JCF; Ruzicka, J; Sorg, BA (2022). "The extracellular matrix and perineuronal nets in memory". Molecular Psychiatry. 27 (8): 3192–3203. doi:10.1038/s41380-022-01634-3. ISSN 1359-4184. PMC 9708575. PMID 35760878.