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selectin

(Science: protein) group of cell adhesion molecules that bid to carbohydrates via a lectin like domain. The name is derived from select and lectin.

They are integral membrane glycoproteins with an N terminal, c type lectin domain, followed by an eGF like domain, a variable number of repeats of the short consensus sequence of complement regulatory proteins and a single transmembrane domain.

Three selectins have been identified and are distinguished by capital letters based on the source of the original identification i.e. E selectin, L selectin and p selectin.