Subtilisin and cyanogen bromide cleavage products of fibronectin that retain gelatin-binding activity.

The gelatin-binding region of fibronectin has been obtained by subtilisin digestion and cyanogen bromide cleavage of the molecule. Enzymatic digestion yielded two fragments of molecular weights 50,000 (S50K) and 30,000 (S30K) which were isolated by elution from gelatin-Sepharose affinity columns. Because the S50K fragment also mediated the adhesion of fibroblasts to collagen, it contains both the collagen and cell binding sites on the fibronectin molecule. Both fragments had valine as the NH2-terminal residue, were enriched in half-cystine and methionine residues compared to the whole molecule, and were identical by immunodiffusion. The S50K fragment begins with the sequence Val-Tyr-Gln-Pro-Gln-Pro-His-Pro-Gln-Pro-(Pro)-(Gly)-Tyr-Gly-His-( )-Val, a region with an extended conformation which is susceptible to proteolysis and connects this domain to the remainder of the fibronectin molecule. The S50K fragment appears to be located in the COOH-terminal one-third of the fibronectin molecule but does not contain the interchain disulfide bridge(s); the S30K fragment is probably derived from the NH2-terminal region of S50K.