Plasmalemma Vesicle Associated Protein (PLVAP)

PLVAP is a type II integral membrane protein with a short N-terminal cytoplasmic tail, a single-span transmembrane domain, and a large C-terminal extracellular domain consisting mostly of alpha helices. It also contains 2 coiled-coil domains predicted to contribute to dimer formation. The extracellular domain has 4 N-glycosylation sites, a proline-rich region, and regular spacing of cysteine residues. The deduced 439-amino acid mouse Plvap protein contains a consensus casein kinase II phosphorylation site that is not found in the human protein. Rat Plvap contains 2 casein kinase II phosphorylation sites. Northern blot analysis revealed a single PLVAP transcript of about 2.4 kb in pancreas, kidney, placenta, muscle, lung, heart, and liver. No signal was detected in brain or testis.