BIOCHEMISTRY OF TYPE XVI COLLAGEN

这个应用程序的长期目标是了解生物学 XVI型胶原蛋白的功能。 胶原蛋白是主要的结构性蛋白质， 结缔组织的大分子，由至少19个不同的 类型 XVI型胶原蛋白是最近发现的胶原蛋白的成员。 胶原蛋白家族 它有几个结构特征 原纤维相关胶原亚组，其成员包括型 IS、XII、XIV和XIX胶原蛋白。 然而，它是独一无二的， 胶原蛋白，因为其长的胶原区域被多个 富含半胱氨酸的非胶原结构域。 XVI型胶原 mRNA在大多数组织中以低水平表达，但在大多数组织中以高得多的水平表达。 卵巢，睾丸和前列腺组织中的水平，表明XVI型 胶原蛋白在男性和女性生殖器官中起关键作用。 在这次更新申请中，建议继续进行 研究XVI型胶原的功能。 的表达 雌雄生殖器中XVI型胶原mRNA、RNa和蛋白质 器官将被详细检查。 XVI型转基因小鼠 将制备失活或突变的胶原基因，以研究胶原基因的表达。 XVI型胶原的体内功能。 重组XVI型胶原 链将准备研究他们的结合相互作用与其他 细胞外基质蛋白 转录调节类型XVI 胶原基因将通过表征启动子区来研究 的基因。

The long term goal of this application is to understand the biological function of type XVI collagen. Collagens, which are major structural macromolecules of connective tissue, consist of at least 19 distinct types. Type XVI collagen is a recently discovered member of the collagen family. It possesses several structural features characteristic of the fibril associated collagen subgroup, whose members include type IS, XII, XIV, and XIX collagens. However, it is unique among collagens in that its long collagenous region is interrupted by multiple noncollagenous domains enriched in cysteines. Type XVI collagen mRNA is expressed at low levels in most tissues but at much higher levels in overy, testis and prosate tissue, suggesting that type XVI collagen plays critical roles in male and female reproductive organs. In this renewal application, experiemtns are proposed to continue investigating the function of type XVI collagen. The expression of type XVI collagenmRNa and protein in male and female reproductive organs will be examined in detail. Transgenic mice with the type XVI collagen gene inactivated or mutated will be prepared to study the in vivo function of type XVI collagen. Recombinant type XVI collagen chains will be prepared to study their binding interactions with other extracellular matrix proteins. The transcription regulation type XVI collagen gene will be studied by characterization of the promoter region of the gene.