Fig. 1

Schematic depiction of ITGA6 gene and mRNA and protein of two identified α6 cytoplasmic variants. Human ITGA6 gene contains 25 exons and is transcribed into prototypic α6A pre-mRNA. Alternative splicing of α6A pre-mRNA at exon 25 deletes 130 nucleotides (nt) containing the original stop codon. This deletion results in a frameshift of the downstream coding sequences and generation of a new stop codon 54 nt downstream of the original stop codon. The messenger RNAs of α6A and α6B are translated into two transmembrane protein isoforms, in which α6B isoform is 18 amino acids (amino acids) longer than and bears a poor homology with the α6A isoform