Human Skeletal Muscle-Specific α-Actinin-2 and-3 Isoforms Form Homodimers and Heterodimersin Vitroandin Vivo

Y Chan, HQ Tong, AH Beggs, LM Kunkel - Biochemical and biophysical …, 1998 - Elsevier
Y Chan, HQ Tong, AH Beggs, LM Kunkel
Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 1998Elsevier
α-actinins belong to a family of actin-binding and crosslinking proteins and are expressed in
many different cell types. Multiple isoforms of α-actinin are found in humans and are
encoded by at least four distinct genes. Human skeletal muscle contains two sarcomeric
isoforms, α-actinin-2 and-3. Previous studies have shown that the α-actinins function as anti-
parallel homodimers but the question of heterodimer formation between two different
isoforms expressed in the same cell type has not been explored. To address this issue, we …
α-actinins belong to a family of actin-binding and crosslinking proteins and are expressed in many different cell types. Multiple isoforms of α-actinin are found in humans and are encoded by at least four distinct genes. Human skeletal muscle contains two sarcomeric isoforms, α-actinin-2 and -3. Previous studies have shown that the α-actinins function as anti-parallel homodimers but the question of heterodimer formation between two different isoforms expressed in the same cell type has not been explored. To address this issue, we expressed both α-actinin-2 and -3in vitroand were able to detect their interaction by both blot overlay and co-immunoprecipitation methods. We were also able to demonstrate the presence of heterodimersin vivoin human skeletal muscle and in COS-1 cells transiently transfected with both isoforms. Our results clearly demonstrate the potential for α-actinin isoforms to form heterodimers which might have unique functional characteristics.
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