Research Article

The UCMD-Causing COL6A1 () Intron Mutation Leads to the Secretion and Aggregation of Single Mutated Collagen VI α1 Chains

Figure 7

Schematic representation of the mutant effect. (a) Assembly of wild-type collagen VI microfibrils. Triple helical monomers (α1, α2, and α3) form dimers in an antiparallel manner that assemble laterally and form collagen VI tetramers. Tetramers are secreted and associated end-to-end by non-covalent interactions (for more detailed description see Introduction). (b) Mutant α1 chains (α1pex) carrying the pseudoexon insertion (red star) do not assemble with the other chains, are secreted, and form extracellular aggregates. In parallel, wild-type collagen VI microfibrils are formed that are decorated by mutant chains which may disturb their proper assembly and function. Schematic representation with changes from [15], created with http://BioRender.com.
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