Fibroblast growth factor receptors contain a conserved HAV region common to cadherins and influenza strain A hemagglutinins: a role in protein-protein interactions?

S. Byers, E. Amaya, S. Munro and O. Blaschuk

Dev. Biol . 152: 411-4 (1992)

Abstract

The first extracellular domain of the cadherins has been shown to exhibit extensive sequence

homology with the amino termini of the HA1 chains of influenza strain A hemagglutinins. These

regions of homology are known to be functionally important in both the cadherins and the

hemagglutinins. The homologous regions harbor the tripeptide HAV, which has been identified as

being the cadherin cell adhesion recognition sequence. Here we report that members of the rapidly

expanding family of fibroblast growth factor receptors also possess HAV-containing regions. These

regions are homologous to the HAV-containing regions present within both the hemagglutinins and

the cadherins and appear to be involved in regulating the function of the fibroblast growth factor

receptors. We speculate that the HAV motif may represent an evolutionarily conserved amino acid

sequence that will prove to be functionally important in a wide variety of proteins.

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