title: The intermediate filament protein peripherin is the specific interaction partner of mouse BPAG1-n (dystonin) in neurons.
abstract: The dystonia musculorum (dt) mouse suffers from severe degeneration of primary sensory neurons. The mutated gene product is named dystonin and is identical to the neuronal isoform of bullous pemphigoid antigen 1 (BPAG1-n). BPAG1-n contains an actin-binding domain at its NH2 terminus and a putative intermediate filament-binding domain at its COOH terminus. Because the degenerating sensory neurons of dt mice display abnormal accumulations of intermediate filaments in the axons, BPAG1-n has been postulated to organize the neuronal cytoskeleton by interacting with both the neurofilament triplet proteins (NFTPs) and microfilaments. In this paper we show by a variety of methods that the COOH-terminal tail domain of mouse BPAG1 interacts specifically with peripherin, but in contrast to a previous study (Yang, Y., J. Dowling, Q.C. Yu, P. Kouklis, D.W. Cleveland, and E. Fuchs. 1996. Cell. 86:655-665), mouse BPAG1 fails to associate with full-length NFTPs. The tail domains interfered with the association of the NFTPs with BPAG1. In dt mice, peripherin is present in axonal swellings of degenerating sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia and is downregulated even in other neural regions, which have no obvious signs of pathology. Since peripherin and BPAG1-n also display similar expression patterns in the nervous system, we suggest that peripherin is the specific interaction partner of BPAG1-n in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Liem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003094:Collagen; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004421:Dystonia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000071821:Dystonin; D007381:Intermediate Filament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D024041:Non-Fibrillar Collagens; D064531:Peripherins; D011485:Protein Binding; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection; D000097805:Collagen Type XVII