EN
The laminin receptor precursor (LRP) has been the center of intense controversy and interest for over a decade. Chief among these controversies is the putative multifunctional aspect of this molecule: as a ribosomal-associated protein (p40) and/or as the precursor for the 67kDa high-affinity laminin receptor (67LR), neither of which have been definitively established. Other controversies include the presence of more than one 67kDa laminin receptor protein. However, interest in the molecule is sustained because of its vital function in the cell as a component of the translational machinery and due to its constant up-regulation in cancer cells with the invasive and metastatic phenotype and in association with poor prognosis. Recently, while studying the autoimmunogenicity of a species conserved 37-44 kDa oncofetal antigen (37kDa OFA), the authors of this paper, using amino acid sequencing of isolated OFA-peptides, cDNA cloning and sequencing and antigens-antibodies cross reactivity as well as antigens-T cell recognition reactions, identified the 37kDa OFA as precursor or immature laminin receptor protein.