Learning more about the role of Latent transforming growth factor-β binding protein–1 (LTBP–1) – a knockout approach in mice

Aims: The latent transforming growth factor-β binding proteins (LTBP) are a family of widely expressed multidomain glycoproteins. cDNA for four different LTBP (LTBP–1, –2, –3, –4) was cloned from different sources and also from different species. The LTBP genes set up a subfamily of the extracellular fibrillin proteins, which constitute the backbone of extracellular filaments. We focused our work on LTBP–1 which is expressed in different organs [1], forms intracellular complexes with transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1, –2, –3), target the growth factor to the extracellular matrix, and is a key player in contro…