Isolation of a collagen-binding fragment from fibronectin and cold-insoluble globulin.

Limited proteolytic cleavage of fibronectin and plasma cold-insoluble globulin with cathepsin D produced two major fragments. The smaller, Mr = 72,000 fragment bound to collagen and contained most of the cysteine in the molecule. This region contains intrachain disulfide bonds which maintain a conformation that is necessary for interaction with collagen. Cleavage of the intact protein and the 72,000-dalton fragment with plasmin localized the collagen-binding region in cold-insoluble globulin to a sequence of about 42,000 daltons. This region is located approximately two-thirds of the linear distance from the NH2 terminus of each chain in the dimeric molecule.