Background：Laminins, a family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins, are the major noncollagenous constituent of basement membranes. They have been implicated in a wide variety of biological processes including cell adhesion, differentiation, migration, signaling, neurite outgrowth and metastasis. Laminins are composed of 3 non identical chains： laminin alpha, beta and gamma （formerly A, B1, and B2, respectively） and they form a cruciform structure consisting of 3 short arms, each formed by a different chain, and a long arm composed of all 3 chains. Each laminin chain is a multidomain protein encoded by a distinct gene. Several isoforms of each chain have been described. This gene encodes the beta chain isoform laminin, beta 1. The beta 1 chain has 7 structurally distinct domains which it shares with other beta chain isomers. The C-terminal helical region containing domains I and II are separated by domain alpha, domains III and V contain several EGF-like repeats, and domains IV and VI have a globular conformation. Laminin, beta 1 is expressed in most tissues that produce basement membranes, and is one of the 3 chains constituting laminin 1, the first laminin isolated from Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm （EHS） tumor. A sequence in the beta 1 chain that is involved in cell attachment, chemotaxis, and binding to the laminin receptor was identified and shown to have the capacity to inhibit metastasis.
