Thrombospondin Type Laminin G Domain And EAR Repeat Containing Protein (TSPEAR)

By searching databases for sequences containing epilepsy-associated repeats (EARs), Scheel et al. (2002) identified C21ORF29, which they called TSPEAR. The deduced protein contains an N-terminal signal sequence followed by a thrombospondin-N domain and 7 tandem EARs. EARs are about 44-residues long, and the 7 EARs of TSPEAR are predicted to assume a beta-propeller fold and function as part of a ligand-binding domain.By genomic sequence analysis, Scheel et al. (2002) mapped the TSPEAR gene to chromosome 21q22.3.Thrombospondin I is a multimodular secreted protein that associates with the extracellular matrix and possesses a variety of biologic functions, including a potent antiangiogenic activity. Other thrombospondin genes include thrombospondins II (THBS2), III (THBS3), and IV (THBS4).