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Updated: Apr 26, 2026

Generating a Fractal Microstructure of Laminin-111 to Signal to Cells
Published on: September 28, 2020
Oncofetal antigen/immature laminin receptor protein in pregnancy and cancer
Adel L Barsoum1, Paul O Schwarzenberger
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA, abarsoum@jaguar1.usouthal.edu.
Abstract:
The 37-kDa immature laminin receptor protein (iLRP) is a speciesconserved, universal immunogenic protein that is expressed in all thus-far examined embryonic and early fetal cells of inbred and outbred rodents. It has also been identified in human concepti. It is altered through normal maturation processes to become a non-immunogenic 67-kDa dimeric mature laminin receptor protein (mLRP) in mid-to late gestation in the mammalian fetus. This antigen ceases to be expressed as an active autoimmunogen in the full-term fetus and in the normal differentiating tissues and organs of the neonate or adult organism, apparently due to dimerization, but it is re-expressed as an immunogenic monomer in tumor cells. In this review, we highlight the known mechanisms of immune responses with particular emphasis on the possible role of the 37-kDa oncofetal antigen/immature laminin receptor (OFA/iLRP) in both pregnancy and cancer.
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