title: Ankyrin-B in lens architecture and biomechanics: Just not tethering but more.
abstract: The ankyrins are a family of well-characterized metazoan adaptor proteins that play a key role in linking various membrane-spanning proteins to the underlying spectrin-actin cytoskeleton; a mechanistic understanding of their role in tissue architecture and mechanics, however, remains elusive. Here we comment on a recent study demonstrating a key role for ankyrin-B in maintaining the hexagonal shape and radial alignment of ocular lens fiber cells by regulating the membrane organization of periaxin, dystrophins/dystroglycan, NrCAM and spectrin-actin network of proteins, and revealing that ankyrin-B deficiency impairs fiber cell shape and mechanical properties of the ocular lens. These observations indicate that ankyrin-B plays an important role in maintaining tissue cytoarchitecture, cell shape and biomechanical properties via engaging in key protein: protein interactions required for membrane anchoring and organization of the spectrin-actin skeleton, scaffolding proteins and cell adhesive proteins.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Duke University School of Medicine , Durham , NC , USA.|b Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology , Duke University School of Medicine , Durham , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Ponugoti Vasantha
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Duke University School of Medicine , Durham , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Rupalatha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maddala
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017487:Ankyrins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017487:Ankyrins; D008565:Membrane Proteins
keywords: ankyrin-B; biomechanics; cell shape; cytoarchitecture; lens fibers; membrane organization