N. Jo Sakabe, Vibranovski, M. Dulcetti, and de Souza, S. José,
“A bioinformatics analysis of alternative exon usage in human genes coding for extracellular matrix proteins”, vol. 3, pp. 532-544, 2004.
Alternative splicing increases protein diversity through the generation of different mRNA molecules from the same gene. Although alternative splicing seems to be a widespread phenomenon in the human transcriptome, it is possible that different subgroups of genes present different patterns, related to their biological roles. Analysis of a subgroup may enhance common features of its members that would otherwise disappear amidst a heterogeneous population. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are a good set for such analyses since they are structurally and functionally related.