English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Released

Journal Article

Gene structure and functional analysis of the mouse nidogen-2 gene: Nidogen-2 is not essential for basement membrane formation in mice

MPS-Authors
/persons/resource/persons78690

Schymeinsky,  J.
Ullrich, Axel / Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons78444

Nedbal,  S.
Ullrich, Axel / Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons78797

Timpl,  R.
Former Research Groups, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Max Planck Society;

/persons/resource/persons77694

Bader,  B. L.
Former Research Groups, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Max Planck Society;

External Resource
No external resources are shared
Fulltext (restricted access)
There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.
Fulltext (public)
There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe
Supplementary Material (public)
There is no public supplementary material available
Citation

Schymeinsky, J., Nedbal, S., Miosge, N., Poschl, E., Rao, C., Beier, D. R., et al. (2002). Gene structure and functional analysis of the mouse nidogen-2 gene: Nidogen-2 is not essential for basement membrane formation in mice. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 22(19), 6820-6830.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0010-6E36-7
Abstract
Nidogens are highly conserved proteins in vertebrates and invertebrates and are found in almost all basement membranes. According to the classical hypothesis of basement membrane organization, nidogens connect the laminin and collagen IV networks, so stabilizing the basement membrane, and integrate other proteins. In mammals two nidogen proteins, nidogen-1 and nidogen-2, have been discovered. Nidogen-2 is typically enriched in endothelial basement membranes, whereas nidogen-1 shows broader localization in most basement membranes. Surprisingly, analysis of nidogen-1 gene knockout mice presented evidence that nidogen-1 is not essential for basement membrane formation and may be compensated for by nidogen-2. In order to assess the structure and in vivo function of the nidogen-2 gene in mice, we cloned the gene and determined its structure and chromosomal location. Next we analyzed mice carrying an insertional mutation in the nidogen-2 gene that was generated by the secretory gene trap approach. Our molecular and biochemical characterization identified the mutation as a phenotypic null allele. Nidogen-2-deficient mice show no overt abnormalities and are fertile, and basement membranes appear normal by ultrastructural analysis and immunostaining. Nidogen- 2 deficiency does not lead to hemorrhages in mice as one may have expected. Our results show that nidogen-2 is not essential for basement membrane formation or maintenance.