Bone Abstracts

COMP (Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein) is a member of the thrombospondin family of extracellular matrix proteins and also referred to as thrombospondin-5. Mutations in COMP lead to chondrodysplasias. Here we studied COMP in zebrafish (Danio rerio) which is a powerful vertebrate model organism. In silico analysis revealed that only one COMP coding gene exists in zebrafish and that the domain structure of COMP is fully conserved. Inspection of gene locus and phyloge...