title: Leiomodin and tropomodulin in smooth muscle.
abstract: Evidence is accumulating to suggest that actin filament remodeling is critical for smooth muscle contraction, which implicates actin filament ends as important sites for regulation of contraction. Tropomodulin (Tmod) and smooth muscle leiomodin (SM-Lmod) have been found in many tissues containing smooth muscle by protein immunoblot and immunofluorescence microscopy. Both proteins cofractionate with tropomyosin in the Triton-insoluble cytoskeleton of rabbit stomach smooth muscle and are solubilized by high salt. SM-Lmod binds muscle tropomyosin, a biochemical activity characteristic of Tmod proteins. SM-Lmod staining is present along the length of actin filaments in rat intestinal smooth muscle, while Tmod stains in a punctate pattern distinct from that of actin filaments or the dense body marker alpha-actinin. After smooth muscle is hypercontracted by treatment with 10 mM Ca(2+), both SM-Lmod and Tmod are found near alpha-actinin at the periphery of actin-rich contraction bands. These data suggest that SM-Lmod is a novel component of the smooth muscle actin cytoskeleton and, furthermore, that the pointed ends of actin filaments in smooth muscle may be capped by Tmod in localized clusters.
authors.affiliation: Space Life Sciences, MS 239-11, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA. cconley@mail.arc.nasa.gov
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Conley
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000502:physiology; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000502:physiology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D013270:Stomach / Q000737:chemistry; D051348:Tropomodulin
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C495832:Tmod1 protein, rat; D051348:Tropomodulin