Identification of active sequences in human laminin α5 G domain.

Human laminin-511 (α5β1γ1) and its truncated protein, laminin-511 E8 fragment, bind to integrin α6β1 and have been widely used for embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell culture under feeder-free conditions. In this study, we focused on human laminin α5 chain G domain, which is thought to be critical for the biological functions of laminin-511, and screened its biologically active sequences using a synthetic peptide library. We synthesized 115 peptides (hA5G1-hA5G115) covering the entire laminin α5 chain G domain and evaluated cell attachment activity using both the peptide-coated plate and peptide-chitosan matrix (peptide-ChtM) assays. Seventeen peptides demonstrated cell attachment activity in the assays. Both hA5G18 and hA5G26-coated plates and hA5G74-ChtMs promoted integrin β1-mediated cell attachment. These findings are useful for the study of molecular mechanisms of laminin-511, and the active peptides have a potential for use as a molecular probe for cell adhesion receptors.