Tetraspanin 6 (TSPAN6)

Tetraspanin-6 is a member of the transmembrane 4 superfamily, also known as the tetraspanin family. Most of these members are cell-surface proteins that are characterized by the presence of four hydrophobic domains. The proteins mediate signal transduction events that play a role in the regulation of cell development, activation, growth and motility. This encoded protein is a cell surface glycoprotein and is highly similar in sequence to the transmembrane 4 superfamily member 2. The TM4SF6 protein contains 4 putative transmembrane domains, several short cysteine motifs characteristic of TM4SF proteins, and a potential N-glycosylation site. The TM4SF6 and TM4SF2 proteins are 58% homologous. TM4SF6 was expressed as 1.9- and 1.3-kb transcripts in all human tissues examined.