Transcriptional complexity of the HSPG2 gene in the human mast cell line, HMC-1

The mammalian HSPG2 gene encodes the proteoglycan protein core perlecan, which has important functions in biology including cell adhesion via integrins, binding to the extracellular matrix via various protein-protein interactions and binding of growth factors via the heparan sulfate chains decorating the N-terminal domain I. Here we show that, in the human mast cell line HMC-1, the transcription of this gene results in a population of mRNA that is processed in such a way to provide a relative increase of transcripts corresponding to domain V or the C-terminus compared to transcripts from either domain III or the N-terminal domain I. This paper also presents evidence of splicing of the HSPG2 gene in HMC-1 cells at exons 2/3 and after comparing this sequence with those published in various databases, a model is postulated to explain what might be happening in these cells with regard to the transcription of the HSPG2 gene. As domain V of perlecan contains the α2β1 integrin binding site that modulates angiogenesis, we hypothesize that the transcriptional control of the HSPG2 gene in mast cells to synthesize these transcripts supports their stimulatory and specific role in wound healing and tissue regeneration.