cd00252: SPARC_EC (this model, PSSM-Id:238155 is obsolete and has been replaced by 320009)
SPARC_EC; extracellular Ca2+ binding domain (containing 2 EF-hand motifs) of SPARC and related proteins (QR1, SC1/hevin, testican and tsc-36/FRP). SPARC (BM-40) is a multifunctional glycoprotein, a matricellular protein, that functions to regulate cell-matrix interactions; binds to such proteins as collagen and vitronectin and binds to endothelial cells thus inhibiting cellular proliferation. The EC domain interacts with a follistatin-like (FS) domain which appears to stabilize Ca2+ binding. The two EF-hands interact canonically but their conserved disulfide bonds confer a tight association between the EF-hand pair and an acid/amphiphilic N-terminal helix. Proposed active form involves a Ca2+ dependent symmetric homodimerization of EC-FS modules.