Characterisation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe α-actinin
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Published Version
Date
2016-03-28
Authors
Addario, Barbara
Sandblad, Linda
Persson, Karina
Backman, Lars
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PeerJ
Published Version
Abstract
The actin cytoskeleton plays a fundamental role in eukaryotic cells. Its reorganization is regulated by a plethora of actin-modulating proteins, such as a-actinin. In higher organisms, α-actinin is characterized by the presence of three distinct structural domains: an N-terminal actin-binding domain and a C-terminal region with EF-hand motif separated by a central rod domain with four spectrin repeats. Sequence analysis has revealed that the central rod domain of α-actinin from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe consists of only two spectrin repeats. To obtain a firmer understanding of the structure and function of this unconventional α-actinin, we have cloned and characterized each structural domain. Our results show that this a-actinin isoform is capable of forming dimers and that the rod domain is required for this. However, its actin-binding and cross-linking activity appears less efficient compared to conventional α-actinins. The solved crystal structure of the actin-binding domain indicates that the closed state is stabilised by hydrogen bonds and a salt bridge not present in other α-actinins, which may reduce the affinity for actin.
Description
Keywords
Spectrin repeat , Actin-binding protein , α-actinin , Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Citation
Addario, B., Sandblad, L., Persson, K. and Backman, L. (2016) 'Characterisation of Schizosaccharomyces pombe α-actinin', PeerJ, 4, pp. e1858. doi:10.7717/peerj.1858