Description
Laminin subunit gamma-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LAMC2 gene. Laminins, a family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins, are the major noncollagenous constituent of basement membranes. They have been implicated in a wide variety of biological processes including cell adhesion, differentiation, migration, signaling, neurite outgrowth and metastasis. This gene encodes the gamma chain isoform laminin, gamma2. The gamma2 chain, formerly though to be a truncated version of beta chain(B2t), is highly homologous to the gamma1 chain; however, it lacks domain VI, and domains V, IV and III are shorter. It is expressed in several fetal tissues but differently from gamma1, and is specifically localized to epithelial cells in skin, lung and kidney. The epithelium-specific expression of the gamma 2 chain implied its role as an epithelium attachment molecule, and mutations in this gene have been associated with junctional epidermolysis bullosa, a skin disease characterized.