Tetraspanin 12 (TSPAN12)

TSPAN12 is a tetraspanin protein that is found in the membrane of a variety of cells. It has an unusually long C-terminal intracellular tail of approximately 60 amino acids.Its main binding partner is the ADAM10 protein, a sheddase that interacts with a variety of adhesion molecules that are found on the cell membrane including L1-CAM, E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin and CD44. It also binds to the MT1-MMP metalloprotease protein that is closely related to ADAM10 but has a minimal effect on promotion of expression and function. TSPAN12 also seems to regulate vascular development, as shown by a study involving TSPAN12 knockout mice.The deduced 305-amino acid protein contains 4 transmembrane segments, 4 cysteines in the second extracellular region, including the conserved CCG sequence, and a weakly conserved PxSC motif.