Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-8-12
pubmed:abstractText
Cell-extracellular matrix interactions have important roles in many biological processes, including embryonic development, growth control and differentiation. Integrins are the principal receptors for extracellular matrix. They are composed of non-covalently associated alpha and beta chains. Integrin alpha 6 can associate with either beta 1 or beta 4 (refs 2,3). Both integrin complexes are receptors for laminins, major components of basement membranes. The distribution of alpha 6 (refs 4-10) as well as studies using function-blocking antibodies have suggested an essential role for this laminin receptor during embryogenesis, in processes such as endoderm migration or kidney tubule formation9. Here we report that, surprisingly, mice lacking the alpha 6 integrin chain develop to birth. However, they die at birth with severe blistering of the skin and other epithelia, a phenotype reminiscent of the human disorder epidermolysis bullosa. Hemidesmosomes are absent in mutant tissue. This absence is likely to result from the lack of alpha 6/beta 4, the only integrin in hemidesmosomes of stratified squamous and transitional epithelia. Mutations in the genes encoding integrin beta 4 and chains of laminin-5 have been implicated in junctional epidermolysis bullosa. Our study provides evidence that some forms of epidermolysis bullosa may originate from defects of the alpha 6 gene.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1061-4036
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
13
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
370-3
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Antigens, CD, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Cell Adhesion Molecules, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Desmosomes, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Epidermis, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Epidermolysis Bullosa, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Female, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Fertility, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Fetal Death, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Genetic Vectors, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Heterozygote, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Integrin alpha6, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Keratinocytes, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Male, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Mice, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Mice, Inbred C57BL, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Mice, Transgenic, pubmed-meshheading:8673141-Skin
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Absence of integrin alpha 6 leads to epidermolysis bullosa and neonatal death in mice.
pubmed:affiliation
Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS/INSERM/ULP, Illkirch, C.U. de Strasbourg, France.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't