Biology:Basal cell adhesion molecule

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Short description: Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens


A representation of the 3D structure of the protein myoglobin showing turquoise α-helices.
Generic protein structure example

Basal cell adhesion molecule, also known as Lutheran antigen, is a plasma membrane glycoprotein that in humans is encoded by the BCAM gene.[1] BCAM has also recently been designated CD239 (cluster of differentiation 239).

Function

Lutheran blood group glycoprotein is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and a receptor for the extracellular matrix protein, laminin. The protein contains five, N-terminus, extracellular immunoglobulin domains, a single transmembrane domain, and a short, C-terminal cytoplasmic tail. This protein may play a role in epithelial cell cancer and in vaso-occlusion of red blood cells in sickle cell disease. Two transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene.[1]

Interactions

BCAM has been shown to interact with Laminin, alpha 5. BCAM has also been shown to promote the metastasis of ovarian cancer.[2][3][4]

References

Further reading

External links

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.