Alternative Splicing of a Specific Cytoplasmic Exon Alters the Binding Characteristics of Murine Platelet/Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (PECAM-1) (∗)

• Published in: The Journal of biological chemistry Vol. 270; no. 40; pp. 23672 - 23680
• Main Authors: Yan, Horng-Chin, Baldwin, H. Scott, Sun, Jing, Buck, Clayton A., Albelda, Steven M., DeLisser, Horace M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 06.10.1995; American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Subjects: Alternative Splicing; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic - genetics; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic - immunology; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic - metabolism; Base Sequence; Blood Platelets - metabolism; Cell Adhesion Molecules - genetics; Cell Adhesion Molecules - immunology; Cell Adhesion Molecules - metabolism; Cell Aggregation; Cloning, Molecular; Cytoplasm - metabolism; DNA Primers - genetics; DNA, Complementary - genetics; Embryo, Mammalian; Endothelium, Vascular - metabolism; Exons; Genetic Variation; Glycosylation; Humans; L Cells; Ligands; Mice; Molecular Sequence Data; Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; Protein Binding; Sequence Deletion; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Transfection
• ISSN: 0021-9258; 1083-351X
• DOI: 10.1074/jbc.270.40.23672

Platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1, CD31) is a membrane glycoprotein expressed on endothelial cells, platelets, and leukocytes. Analysis of PECAM-1 expression in the developing mouse embryo has revealed the presence of multiple isoforms of murine PECAM-1 (muPECAM-1) that appeared to result from the alternative splicing of exons encoding cytoplasmic domain sequences (exons 10-16) (Baldwin, H. S., Shen, H. M., Yan, H., DeLisser, H. M., Chung, A., Mickanin, C., Trask, T., Kirschbaum, N. E. Newman, P. J., Albelda, S., and Buck, C. A.(1994) Development 120, 2539-2553). To investigate the functional consequences of alternatively spliced muPECAM-1 cytoplasmic domains, L-cells were transfected with cDNA for each variant and their ability to promote cell aggregation was compared. In this assay, full-length muPECAM-1 and all three isoforms containing exon 14 behaved like human PECAM-1 in that they mediated calcium- and heparin-dependent heterophilic aggregation. In contrast, three muPECAM-1 variants, all missing exon 14, mediated calcium- and heparin-independent homophilic aggregation. Exon 14 thus appears to modulate the ligand and adhesive interactions of the extracellular domain of PECAM-1. These findings suggest that alternative splicing may represent a mode of regulating the adhesive function of PECAM-1 in vivo and provides direct evidence that alternative splicing involving the cytoplasmic domain affects the ligand specificity and binding properties of a cell adhesion receptor.