ISSN:
0886-1544
Keywords:
compartmentalization
;
muscle cells
;
actins
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
The functional significance of multiple isoactins in the same cell is still not understood. To address this question, we examined the response of smooth muscle and cardiac muscle α-isoactins to a serial extraction procedure applied to both muscle and nonmuscle cell types. We compared these extraction results with results obtained with the β- and γ-nonmuscle actin isoforms from the same cells. In differentiated BC3H1 nonfusing muscle cells (smooth muscle α-isoactin), in human rhabdomyosarcoma cells (cardiac α-isoactin), and in chick skeletal muscle cells (cardiac α-isoactin), different fractions were found selectively enriched in either the nonmuscle or the muscle-specific actin isoforms compared with their relative abundance in whole cell extracts. Conversely, when these same isoactins were examined either in undifferentiated BC3H1 cells or in mouse nonmuscle cells stably transfected with a cardiac α-isoactin gene, no enrichment of these isoforms above their relative abundance in whole cell extracts was observed. These results indicate that within the muscle or muscle-like cells examined, the different actin isoforms were either selectively utilized or localized. These results further show that isoactin-specific responses observed were apparently related to the cell type in which they were found and not to differences in inherent physical properties such as solubility of the different isoactins examined.
Additional Material:
2 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cm.970140212
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