title: Roles for myosin Va in RNA transport and turnover.
abstract: Mammals express three class V myosins. Myosin Va is widely expressed, but enriched in the brain, testes and melanocytes, myosin Vb is expressed ubiquitously, and myosin Vc is believed to be epithelium-specific. Myosin Va is the best characterized of the three and plays a key role in the transport of cargo to the plasma membrane. Its cargo includes cell-surface receptors, pigment and organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum. It is also emerging that RNA and RNA-BPs (RNA-binding proteins) make up another class of myosin Va cargo. It has long been established that the yeast class V myosin, Myo4p, transports mRNAs along actin cables into the growing bud, and now several groups have reported a similar role for class V myosins in higher eukaryotes. Myosin Va has also been implicated in the assembly and maintenance of P-bodies (processing bodies), cytoplasmic foci that are involved in mRNA storage and degradation. The present review examines the evidence that myosin Va plays a role in the transport and turnover of mRNA.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Cell Biology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Biosciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Mary W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: McCaffrey
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lindsay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains / Q000502:physiology*; D024701:Myosin Type V / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D034443:RNA Transport; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; C077511:MYO5A protein, human; D024701:Myosin Type V; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains