Laminin is a cell adhesion protein. Basically, laminin is a protein found in the “extracellular matrix”, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the “basement membrane”. It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to otherlamininmolecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. Laminin is vital to making sure that your overall body structures hold together. If laminin isn’t produced correctly, your muscles may form improperly, giving you a form of muscular dystrophy. Or you may just fall apart in a way similar to aging, a condition called ‘progeria’. Clearly, laminins are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every animal tissue.
I heard about laminin when I attended one of our church’s evening services. They presented a projected video of a pastor talking (i never got the name of the pastor) about how great the universe is compared to anything that is big in this world.
Here is a diagram of the molecular structure of laminin:
Look familiar?
Louis Giglio draws a connection between laminin’s role in the body with how in Christ “all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). You can find references to this on a lot of blogs, but I thought it was fascinating and wanted to share it too!
Also, laminin is “actually made up of three separate parts,” or three different chains, per Wikipedia. I guess you could say it’s a triune protein. I don’t know enough about the molecular structure of proteins to know if that’s unusual, but this protein seems to be another way that nature points to God for those who have eyes to see.
Entries (RSS)