title: Exogenous Dp71 is a dominant negative competitor of dystrophin in skeletal muscle.
abstract: Dystrophin, the protein which is absent or non-functional in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, consists of four main domains: an N-terminal actin binding domain, a rod shaped domain of spectrin-like repeats, a cysteine-rich domain and a unique C-terminal domain. In muscle, dystrophin forms a linkage between the cytoskeletal actin and a group of membrane proteins (dystrophin associated proteins). The N-terminal domain binds to the cytoskeletal actin and the association with the dystrophin associated proteins is mediated mainly by the cysteine-rich and C-terminal domains of dystrophin. The dystrophin gene also encodes two isoforms of non-muscle dystrophins and a number of smaller products consisting of the two C-terminal domains with different extensions into the spectrin-like repeat domain. Dp71, which consist of the C-terminal and the cysteine-rich domains of dystrophin, is the major product of the gene in all non-muscle tissues tested so far, but it is absent in differentiated skeletal muscle. In an attempt to understand the functions of Dp71, we produced transgenic mice over-expressing this protein in several tissues. The highest levels of exogeneous Dp71 were detected in skeletal muscle, in association with the sarcolemma. This resulted in muscle damage similar to that found in mice which lack dystrophin. The data indicates that Dp71 competes with dystrophin for the binding to the dystrophin associated proteins. Since Dp71 lacks the actin binding domain, it cannot form the essential linkage between the dystrophin associated proteins complex and the cytoskeleton.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Sigalit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leibovitz
authors.forename: Asher
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meshorer
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fridman
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wieneke
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jockusch
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yaffe
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Nudel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016189:Dystrophin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018101:Mice, Inbred mdx; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009137:Muscular Dystrophy, Animal / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012397:Rosette Formation; D012508:Sarcolemma / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D049411:Utrophin
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D016189:Dystrophin; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C483600:Utrn protein, mouse; D049411:Utrophin; C085339:apo-dystrophin 1; D003402:Creatine Kinase