scholarly journals The Heavy-chain Stoichiometry of Smooth Muscle Myosin is a Characteristic of Smooth Muscle Tissues

1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukhallad A Mohammad ◽  
Malcolm P Sparrow

The stoichiometry of the two heavy chains of myosin in smooth muscle was determined by electrophoresing extracts of native myosin and of dissociated myosin on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) 4%-polyacrylamide gels. The slower migrating heavy chain was 3�6 times more abundant in toad stomach, 2�3 in rabbit myometrium, 2�0 in rat femoral artery, 1�3 in guinea pig ileum, 0�93 in pig trachea and 0�69 in human bronchus, than the more rapidly migrating chain. Both heavy chains were identified as smooth muscle myosin by immunoblotting using antibodies to smooth muscle and nonmuscle myosin. The unequal proportion of heavy chains suggested the possibility of native isoforms of myosin comprised of heavy-chain homodimers. To test this, native myosin extracts were electrophoresed on non-dissociating (pyrophosphate) gels. When each band was individually analysed on SDS-polyacrylamide gel the slowest was found to be filamin and the other bands were myosin in which the relative proportion of the heavy chains was unchanged from that found in the original tissue extracts. Since this is incompatible with either a heterodimeric or a homodimeric arrangement it suggests that pyrophosphate gel electrophoresis is incapable of separating putative isoforms of native myosin.

1986 ◽  
Vol 250 (6) ◽  
pp. C861-C870 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Rovner ◽  
M. M. Thompson ◽  
R. A. Murphy

Two putative myosin heavy chains designated SM1 and SM2 were detected on a 3.5% polyacrylamide-sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis system loaded with homogenates of several mammalian smooth muscles. The two polypeptides were present in nearly equal amounts in all smooth muscle tissues tested and in myosin purified from swine carotid media and stomach. Both proteins were equally stained by smooth muscle-specific myosin antibodies. The smaller of the polypeptides had a mobility nearly identical to that of the single heavy chain observed in purified fast-twitch skeletal myosin. Electrophoresis of pyrophosphate extracts from swine carotid media, swine stomach, rabbit thoracic aorta, and guinea pig taenia coli on nondenaturing pyrophosphate gels revealed a single protein band. When subsequently electrophoresed on a sodium dodecyl sulfate gel, the native bands from swine tissue extracts revealed the two putative heavy chains in nearly equal amounts, as well as a large amount of a higher molecular weight peptide whose properties reflect those of filamen. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel analysis of the myosin band from pyrophosphate gels of purified swine stomach myosin showed exclusively the two heavy chains in a nearly 1:1 ratio. Smooth muscle myosin migrates homogeneously on pyrophosphate gels, and the virtual equality of the two heavy chains may reflect the presence of large amounts of a myosin isoenzyme, which is a heavy-chain heterodimer.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (5) ◽  
pp. C1252-C1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. White ◽  
A. F. Martin ◽  
M. Periasamy

Smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMHC) isoforms, SM1 and SM2, are the products of alternative splicing from a single gene (P. Babij and M. Periasamy. J. Mol. Biol. 210: 673-679, 1989). We have previously shown that this splicing occurs at the 3'-end of the mRNA, resulting in proteins that differ at the carboxyterminal (R. Nagai, M. Kuro-o, P. Babij, and M. Periasamy. J. Biol. Chem. 264: 9734-9737, 1989). In the present study we demonstrate that additional SMHC isoform diversity occurs in the globular head region by isolating and characterizing two distinct rat SMHC cDNA (SMHC-11 = SM1B and SMHC-5 = SM1A). Sequence comparison of the two clones reveals that they are completely identical in their coding regions, except at the region encoding the 25/50 kDa junction of the myosin head, where the SM1B isoform contains an additional seven amino acids. This divergent region is located adjacent to the Mg(2+)-ATPase site, and differences in this region may be of functional importance. Ribonuclease protection analysis demonstrates that the corresponding SM1B and SM1A mRNA messages are coexpressed in all smooth muscle tissues; however, the proportion of the two mRNA present differs significantly between tissues. The SM1A-type mRNA predominates in most smooth muscle tissues, with the exception of intestine and urinary bladder, which contain greater proportions of the SM1B message. The differential distribution of these two isoforms may provide important clues toward understanding differences in smooth muscle contractile properties.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (5) ◽  
pp. H1653-H1662 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Tsao ◽  
T. J. Eddinger

Two smooth muscle myosin heavy chains (MHC; SM1 and SM2) of approximately 204 and 200 kDa exist in smooth muscle cells and can be visualized on reducing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels. Chymotryptic digestion of the native myosin molecule results in two fragments: heavy meromyosin (HMM) and light meromyosin (LMM). LMM is the alpha-helical coiled-coil carboxy terminal half of the molecule containing the difference peptide between SM1 and SM2. Electrophoresis of the LMM fragments on a reducing SDS-polyacrylamide gel resolves two subunits from the two MHC [LM1 from SM1 (approximately 100 kDa) and LM2 from SM2 (approximately 95 kDa), where LM1 and LM2 are LMM from SM1 and SM2, respectively]. CuCl2 oxidation of the LMM fragment forms intramolecular disulfide bonds between adjacent cysteines on the two LMM fragments. When the native LMM is oxidized with CuCl2 and run on a nonreducing SDS-polyacrylamide gel, three bands are observed, which migrate at approximately 195, 190, and 185 kDa (bands 1, 2, and 3). Excision of these bands and electrophoresis on a reducing SDS-polyacrylamide gel show their subunit composition. Band 1 is composed solely of LM1. Band 2 is composed of an equal ratio of LM1 and LM2, and band 3 is composed solely of LM2. Using a variety of biochemical procedures, along with nonreducing SDS-polyacrylamide gels, we interpret these results to indicate that there are three smooth muscle myosin isoforms that result from the various combinations of the two smooth muscle MHC (SM1 homodimer, SM1-SM2 heterodimer, and SM2 homodimer).


1989 ◽  
Vol 260 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
M A Mohammad ◽  
M P Sparrow

Changes in the expression of heavy chains of myosin during development determine the functional characteristics of striated muscles. The distribution of heavy-chain isoforms of smooth-muscle myosin was determined in the airways of adult and infant humans to see whether it might underlie the hyperreactivity of human airways. The protein bands corresponding to myosin were separated using SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (4% gels) and identified by immunoblotting using both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against smooth-muscle myosin and non-muscle myosin. The relative proportion of each heavy chain stained by Coomassie Blue was measured by densitometric scanning. Three major bands corresponding to myosin heavy-chain isoforms were found; the two slower migrating bands (MHC1 and MHC2) were smooth-muscle myosin, and the third band was non-muscle myosin. The MHC1/MHC2 ratio was 0.69:1 in adult bronchus, and in infant bronchus and trachea. This contrasted with the airway smooth muscle in pigs, which was run concurrently, where the smooth-muscle heavy-chain ratio changed with development [Mohammad & Sparrow (1988) FEBS Lett. 228, 109-112]. The non-muscle myosin heavy chain comprised 63% of the smooth-muscle myosin. In both adult and infant lungs an additional putative myosin heavy chain which migrated slightly more rapidly than non-muscle myosin heavy chain was identified using the monoclonal smooth-muscle myosin antibody BF 48. This was unique to the human species.


2002 ◽  
Vol 126 (10) ◽  
pp. 1179-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea K. Bruecks ◽  
Martin J. Trotter

Abstract Background.—The histopathologic features of dermatofibroma vary remarkably, and this diversity may occasionally cause problems in differentiating between benign and malignant mesenchymal lesions, including smooth muscle neoplasms. Immunohistochemical stains are sometimes necessary to clarify the histogenesis of a lesion. Objective.—To evaluate dermatofibromas for expression of desmin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC) antigens, which are commonly used as evidence of smooth muscle differentiation. Methods.—We studied 100 consecutive cases of dermatofibroma using hematoxylin-eosin–stained sections and immunoperoxidase staining with antibodies against desmin, SM-MHC, and smooth muscle actin. Results.—We found focal positivity for desmin in 9 cases, and in 2 of these cases, at least 10% of lesional cells showed strong expression. We found focal staining for SM-MHC in 10 cases, and in 2 of these cases, at least 10% of the lesional cells were positive. Regions positive for desmin and/or SM-MHC did not show definite histologic features of myogenous differentiation on hematoxylin-eosin–stained sections. All dermatofibromas expressing desmin and SM-MHC were also strongly positive for smooth muscle actin. Conclusions.—About 10% of dermatofibromas show focal expression of desmin and SM-MHC, and this expression may be present in up to 10% to 15% of lesional cells. Thus, in dermal spindle cell lesions, focal expression of these muscle antigens, like that of smooth muscle actin, is not diagnostic of a smooth muscle tumor.


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