Betaglycan also known as Transforming growth factor beta receptor III (TGFBR3), is a cell-surface
chondroitin sulfate
Chondroitin sulfate is a sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) composed of a chain of alternating sugars ( N-acetylgalactosamine and glucuronic acid). It is usually found attached to proteins as part of a proteoglycan. A chondroitin chain can have ove ...
/
heparan sulfate
Heparan sulfate (HS) is a linear polysaccharide found in all animal tissues. It occurs as a proteoglycan (HSPG, i.e. Heparan Sulfate ProteoGlycan) in which two or three HS chains are attached in close proximity to cell surface or extracellular ma ...
proteoglycan
Proteoglycans are proteins that are heavily glycosylated. The basic proteoglycan unit consists of a "core protein" with one or more covalently attached glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chain(s). The point of attachment is a serine (Ser) residue to whic ...
>300 kDa in molecular weight. Betaglycan binds to various members of the
TGF-beta superfamily of
ligands
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electr ...
via its core protein, and
bFGF via its heparan sulfate chains.
TGFBR3 is the most widely expressed type of
TGF-beta
Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is a multifunctional cytokine belonging to the transforming growth factor superfamily that includes three different mammalian isoforms (TGF-β 1 to 3, HGNC symbols TGFB1, TGFB2, TGFB3) and many other ...
receptor. Its affinity towards all individual isoforms of TGF-beta is similarly high and therefore it plays an important role as a coreceptor mediating the binding of TGF-beta to its other receptors - specifically TGFBR2. The intrinsic kinase activity of this receptor has not yet been described. In regard of TGF-beta signalling it is generally considered a non-signaling receptor or a coreceptor.
By binding to various member of the TGF-beta superfamily at the cell surface it acts as a reservoir of TGF-beta.
Study of a mouse
knock-out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...
for the Tgfbr3 gene showed a fundamental effect on the correct development of organs and the overall viability of the animals used. Within the same study, no significant changes in Smad signalling (typical for TGF-beta cascade) were detected. This fact suggests that additional, as yet undescribed functions of betaglycan may be mediated by non-classical signalling pathways.
Domains and function
TGFBR3 is composed of an extracellular receptor domain consisting of 849
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...
s which is intracellularly connected to a short
cytoplasm
In cell biology, the cytoplasm is all of the material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus. The material inside the nucleus and contained within the nuclear membrane is termed the nucleoplasm. ...
ic domain. Betaglycan, being expressed by a whole range of various cell types within the organism, can be found in the form of a membrane-bound receptor, or as a soluble protein capable of interactions with the extracellular matrix (
ECM
ECM may refer to:
Economics and commerce
* Engineering change management
* Equity capital markets
* Error correction model, an econometric model
* European Common Market
Mathematics
* Elliptic curve method
* European Congress of Mathemat ...
).
The formation of soluble betaglycan is mediated by
metalloproteinase
A metalloproteinase, or metalloprotease, is any protease enzyme whose catalytic mechanism involves a metal. An example is ADAM12 which plays a significant role in the fusion of muscle cells during embryo development, in a process known as myo ...
s and other enzymes present in the ECM.
Proteolytic cleavage releases an ectodomain containing two binding sites for TGF-beta. Due to high affinity to its ligand, free betaglycan is an important factor in the deposition and neutralization of this cytokine within the ECM. The ratio of membrane and soluble variant in the organism significantly affects the availability of TGF-beta and subsequent intracellular signalling.
The cytoplasmic domain mediates interactions with
scaffold protein
In biology, scaffold proteins are crucial regulators of many key signalling pathways. Although scaffolds are not strictly defined in function, they are known to interact and/or bind with multiple members of a signalling pathway, tethering them i ...
s inside the cell. These intracellular interactions do not affect the functionality of the ectodomain - nor its affinity to TGF-beta. However, they affect cell migration and the overall responsiveness of a given cell to the action of TGF-beta.
Re-release of the cytokine can occur due to the proteolytic activity of the pro-apoptotic serine protease - granzyme B.
Plasmin - a serine protease present in the blood, activated as part of inflammatory reactions, then participates in the definitive degradation of betaglycan.
See also
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TGF beta receptors
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{TGFβ receptor superfamily modulators
TGF beta receptors