Laminin ␣ chains (␣ 1 -␣ 5 chains) have diverse chainspecific biological functions. The LG4 modules of laminin ␣ chains consist of a 14-stranded ␤-sheet (A-N) sandwich structure. Several biologically active sequences have been identified in the connecting loop regions. Here, we evaluated the biological activities of the loop regions of the E and F strands in the LG4 modules using five homologous peptides from each of the mouse ␣ chains (EF-1: DYATLQLQEGRLHFMFDLG, ␣ 1 chain 2747-2765; EF-2: DFGTVQLRNGFPFFSYDLG, ␣ 2 chain 2808 -2826; EF-3: RDSFVALYLSEGHVIFALG, ␣ 3 chain 2266 -2284; EF-4: DFMTLFLAHGRLVFMFNVG, ␣ 4 chain 1511-1529; EF-5: SPSLVLFLNHGHFVAQTEGP, ␣ 5 chain 3304 -3323). These homologous peptides showed chainspecific cell attachment and neurite outgrowth activities. Well organized actin stress fibers and focal contacts with vinculin accumulation were observed in fibroblasts attached on EF-1, whereas fibroblasts on EF-2 and EF-4 showed filopodia with ruffling. Fibroblast attachment to EF-2 and EF-4 was mediated by syndecan-2. In contrast, EF-1 promoted ␣ 2 ␤ 1 integrin-mediated fibroblast attachment and inhibited fibroblast attachment to a recombinant laminin ␣ 1 chain LG4-5. The receptors for EF-3 and EF-5 are unknown. Further, when the active core sequence of EF-1 was cyclized, utilizing two additional cysteine residues at both the N and C termini through a disulfide bridge, the cyclic peptide significantly enhanced integrin-mediated cell attachment. These results indicate that integrin-mediated cell attachment to the EF-1 sequence is conformation-dependent and that the loop structure is important for the activity. The homologous peptides, which promote either integrin-or syndecan-mediated cell attachment, may be useful for understanding the cell type-and chain-specific biological activities of the laminins.

Laminin alpha chains show diverse biological functions in a chain-specific fashion. The laminin G-like modules (LG modules) of the laminin alpha chains consist of a 14-stranded beta-sheet sandwich structure with biologically active sequences found in the connecting loops. Previously, we reported that connecting loop regions between beta-strands E and F in the mouse laminin alpha chain LG4 modules exhibited chain-specific activities. In this study, we focus on the homologous loop regions in human laminin alpha chain LG4 modules using five synthetic peptides (hEF-1-hEF-5). These homologous peptides induced chain-specific cellular responses in various cell types. Next, to examine the dual-receptor recognition model, we synthesized chimeras (cEF13A-cEF13E) derived from peptides hEF-1 and hEF-3. All of the chimeric peptides promoted fibroblast attachment as well as the parental peptides. Attachment of fibroblasts to cEF13A and cEF13B was inhibited by anti-integrin alpha2 and beta1 antibodies and by heparin, while cell adhesion to cEF13C, cEF13D, and cEF13E was blocked only by heparin. Actin organization of fibroblasts on cEF13C was not different from that on hEF-3, but cEF13B induced membrane ruffling at the tips of the actin stress fibers. These results suggest that cEF13B had bifunctional effects on cellular behaviors through alpha2beta1 integrin and heparin/heparan sulfate proteoglycan. We conclude that the approach utilizing chimeric peptides is useful for examining cellular mechanisms in dual-receptor systems.