Figure 1.

The tenascin family. A brief description of the four tenascin members, including their structure and alternative splicing, major sites of expression, and functions. Original rotary shadowing micrograph for TN-C is from Chiquet-Ehrismann et al. (13) and for TN-W from Scherberich et al. (14) both with permission. The following symbols have been used to describe the structural domains: EGF-like domains (diamonds), FNIII domains (boxes), fibrinogen globe (circle). FNIII repeats shown above the structure are subject to alternative splicing (black boxes). Selected references: for TN-C (15–17), TN-X (18–21), TN-R (22–24), TN-W (25–27), and for tenascins in general (28–30).