Extracellular matrix receptors, ECMRII and ECMRI, for collagen and fibronectin correspond to VLA‐2 and VLA‐3 in the VLA family of heterodimers

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Abstract
The Very Late Activation Antigen (VLA) proteins are a family of five related heterodimers, which also are part of the integrin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules. Except for the identification of VLA-5 as a fibronectin receptor structure, the functions of the VLA proteins have remained unclarified. In this paper, immuno-precipitation experiments with both anti-α and anti-β subunit antibodies showed that the previously identified cell adhesion receptor for collagen, extracellular matrix receptor II (ECMRII), is equivalent to VLA-2. At the same time a previously described multispecific cell adhesion receptor for collagen, fibroncclin, and laminin (ECMRI) has been shown to be identical to VLA-3. Although the mAb 12F1 and P1H5 both recognized VLA-2 (ECMRII), they appeared to define distinct epitopes on the α2 subunit. On the other hand, the mAb PIB5 and J143 recognized the α3 subunit of VLA-3 (ECMRI) at or near the same site. Consistent with the collagen receptor functions of VLA-2 (ECMRII) and VLA-3 (ECMRI), anti-VLA β antiserum blocked cell attachment to collagen.