Thrombospondin 3 (THBS3)

The thrombospondins are a family of 5 distinct gene products : thrombospondins I , II , III, and IV and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein. Thrombospondin I and thrombospondin II are almost identical in exon/intron organization. In the mouse, each gene encodes a protein chain of about 1,170 amino acids with sequences very similar in the carboxy-terminal two-thirds but differing considerably in the NH2-terminal regions. THBS3 is a developmentally regulated heparin binding protein. Thrombospondin-3 is a protein belongs to the thrombospondin family. Thrombospondin family members are adhesive glycoproteins that mediate cell-to-cell and cell-to-matrix interactions. This protein forms a pentameric molecule linked by a single disulfide bond. This gene shares a common promoter with metaxin 1.