title: Twinfilin-2a is dispensable for mouse development.
abstract: Twinfilins are evolutionarily conserved regulators of cytoskeletal dynamics. They inhibit actin polymerization by binding both actin monomers and filament barbed ends. Inactivation of the single twinfilin gene from budding yeast and fruit fly results in defects in endocytosis, cell migration, and organization of the cortical actin filament structures. Mammals express three twinfilin isoforms, of which twinfilin-1 and twinfilin-2a display largely overlapping expression patterns in non-muscle tissues of developing and adult mice. The expression of twinfilin-2b, which is generated through alternative promoter usage of the twinfilin-2 gene, is restricted to heart and skeletal muscles. However, the physiological functions of mammalian twinfilins have not been reported. As a first step towards understanding the function of twinfilin in vertebrates, we generated twinfilin-2a deficient mice by deleting exon 1 of the twinfilin-2 gene. Twinfilin-2a knockout mice developed normally to adulthood, were fertile, and did not display obvious morphological or behavioural abnormalities. Tissue anatomy and morphology in twinfilin-2a deficient mice was similar to that of wild-type littermates. These data suggest that twinfilin-2a plays a redundant role in cytoskeletal dynamics with the biochemically similar twinfilin-1, which is typically co-expressed in same tissues with twinfilin-2a.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Elisa M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Nevalainen
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Maria K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Vartiainen
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serlachius
authors.forename: Leif C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moser
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lappalainen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D048788:Growth and Development / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008840:Microfilament Proteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014020:Tissue Extracts
chemical_list: D008840:Microfilament Proteins; D014020:Tissue Extracts; C485190:Twf1 protein, mouse; C485645:TWF2 protein, mouse