Heparan sulfate chain valency controls syndecan-4 function in cell adhesion
Fibroblasts null for the transmembrane proteoglycan, syndecan-4, have an altered actin cytoskeleton, compared with matching wild-type cells. They do not organize alpha-smooth muscle actin into bundles, but will do so when full-length syndecan-4 is re-expressed. This requires the central V region of the core protein cytoplasmic domain, though not interactions with PDZ proteins. A second key require