Myosin heavy chain isoform expression in rat smooth muscle development

1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. C581-C589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryl L. White ◽  
Ming Yuan Zhou ◽  
Robert B. Low ◽  
Muthu Periasamy

Smooth muscle myosin heavy chains (MHCs), the motor proteins that power smooth muscle contraction, are produced by alternative splicing from a single gene. The smooth muscle MHC gene is capable of producing four isoforms by utilizing alternative splice sites located at the regions encoding the carboxy terminus and the junction of the 25- and 50-kDa tryptic peptides. These four isoforms, SM1A, SM1B, SM2A, and SM2B, are a combination of one of two heavy chains containing different carboxy-terminal tails (1 or 2) without (A) or with (B) an additional motif in the myosin head. In the present study, using RNA analysis and isoform-specific antibodies, we demonstrate the expression patterns of MHC isoforms during development in rat smooth muscle tissues. RNase protection analysis indicates that the mRNAs for SMA and SMB isoforms, which differ by a 21-nucleotide insertion in the region encoding the S1 head region of the myosin molecule, are differentially expressed during development in a highly tissue-specific manner. Smooth muscle MHC transcripts are first detectable in developing rat smooth muscle tissues at 17 days of fetal development. The SMB mRNA is shown to be expressed in smooth muscle from fetal bladder, intestine, and stomach and from neonatal aorta; however, it is not expressed in cultured smooth muscle cells from rat aorta. The SMA mRNA is also present at all stages of development in the smooth muscles examined; however, it is much less abundant than SMB mRNA in most fetal smooth muscles. We show here that the SMB isoform, which contains a unique seven-amino acid insertion at the junction of the 25- and 50-kDa tryptic peptides, is present in conjunction with SM1 and SM2 tails on immunoblots of smooth muscle from stomach, intestine, bladder, and uterus and is expressed during development in a pattern distinct from that of the SM1 and SM2 tail isoforms.

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.


1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Ping Jin ◽  
Michael P. Walsh ◽  
Mary E. Resek ◽  
Gail A. McMartin

Calponin is a thin filament associated protein found in smooth muscle as a potential modulator of contraction. Five mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs CP1, CP3, CP4, CP7, and CP8) were prepared against chicken gizzard α-calponin. The CP1 epitopic structure is conserved in smooth muscles across vertebrate phyla and is highly sensitive to CNBr cleavage in contrast with the chicken-specific CP4 and the avian–mammalian-specific CP8 epitopes that are resistant to CNBr fragmentation. Using this panel of mAbs against multiple epitopes, only α-calponin was detected in adult chicken smooth muscles and throughout development of the gizzard. Western blotting showed that the calponin content varied among different smooth muscle tissues and correlated with that of h-caldesmon. In contrast with the constitutive expression of calponin in phasic smooth muscle of the digestive tract, very low levels of calponin were detected in adult avian tracheas and no calponin expression was detected in embryonic and young chick tracheas. These results provide information on the structural conservation of calponins and suggest a relationship between calponin expression and smooth muscle functional states.Key words: smooth muscle calponin, caldesmon, expression, development, chicken trachea.


1985 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
M D Schneider ◽  
J R Sellers ◽  
M Vahey ◽  
Y A Preston ◽  
R S Adelstein

We have produced and characterized monoclonal antibodies that label antigenic determinants distributed among three distinct, nonoverlapping peptide domains of the 200-kD heavy chain of avian smooth muscle myosin. Mice were immunized with a partially phosphorylated chymotryptic digest of adult turkey gizzard myosin. Hybridoma antibody specificities were determined by solid-phase indirect radioimmunoassay and immunoreplica techniques. Electron microscopy of rotary-shadowed samples was used to directly visualize the topography of individual [antibody.antigen] complexes. Antibody TGM-1 bound to a 50-kD peptide of subfragment-1 (S-1) previously found to be associated with actin binding and was localized by immunoelectron microscopy to the distal aspect of the myosin head. However, there was no antibody-dependent inhibition of the actin-activated heavy meromyosin ATPase, nor was antibody TGM-1 binding to actin-S-1 complexes inhibited. Antibody TGM-2 detected an epitope of the subfragment-2 (S-2) domain of heavy meromyosin but not the S-2 domain of intact myosin or rod, consistent with recognition of a site exposed by chymotryptic cleavage of the S-2:light meromyosin junction. Localization of TGM-2 to the carboxy-terminus of S-2 was substantiated by immunoelectron microscopy. Antibody TGM-3 recognized an epitope found in the light meromyosin portion of myosin. All three antibodies were specific for avian smooth muscle myosin. Of particular interest is that antibody TGM-1, unlike TGM-3, bound poorly to homogenates of 19-d embryonic smooth muscles. This indicates the expression of different myosin heavy chain epitopes during smooth muscle development.


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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Wray ◽  
Clodagh Prendergast ◽  
Sarah Arrowsmith

In smooth muscle tissues, calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCC) provide the major anionic channel. Opening of these channels leads to chloride efflux and depolarization of the myocyte membrane. In this way, activation of the channels by a rise of intracellular [Ca2+], from a variety of sources, produces increased excitability and can initiate action potentials and contraction or increased tone. We now have a good mechanistic understanding of how the channels are activated and regulated, due to identification of TMEM16A (ANO1) as the molecular entity of the channel, but key questions remain. In reviewing these channels and comparing two distinct smooth muscles, myometrial and vascular, we expose the differences that occur in their activation mechanisms, properties, and control. We find that the myometrium only expresses “classical,” Ca2+-activated, and voltage sensitive channels, whereas both tonic and phasic blood vessels express classical, and non-classical, cGMP-regulated CaCC, which are voltage insensitive. This translates to more complex activation and regulation in vascular smooth muscles, irrespective of whether they are tonic or phasic. We therefore tentatively conclude that although these channels are expressed and functionally important in all smooth muscles, they are probably not part of the mechanisms governing phasic activity. Recent knockdown studies have produced unexpected functional results, e.g. no effects on labour and delivery, and tone increasing in some but decreasing in other vascular beds, strongly suggesting that there is still much to be explored concerning CaCC in smooth muscle.


1987 ◽  
Vol 244 (3) ◽  
pp. 705-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P Lees-Miller ◽  
D H Heeley ◽  
L B Smillie

Using a rabbit polyclonal-antibody preparation directed against the chicken gizzard protein, we demonstrated by immunoblotting the presence of the 22 kDa protein (SM22) in a variety of chicken smooth-muscle-containing organs, including uterus, intestine, gizzard, oesophagus and aorta. Protein SM22 was present in only trace amounts in brain, liver and heart, and could not be detected in chicken breast muscle. The antibody preparation did not cross-react with extracts of bovine aorta. However, the presence of SM22 as a major component in bovine aorta and pig carotid was demonstrated by its co-migration with the purified chicken gizzard protein on one- and two-dimensional polyacrylamide electrophoretic gels. Its molar abundance relative to actin was estimated to be 0.9:6.0 and 1.4:6.0 for bovine aorta and pig carotid respectively. Like the chicken gizzard protein, it separates on pH-gradient electrophoresis into at least three variants, alpha, beta and gamma, with similar apparent Mr. Purification of the aorta SM22 showed it to have a similar amino acid composition to the chicken gizzard protein. We conclude that SM22 is widely distributed and an abundant and unique protein component of smooth-muscle tissues of birds and mammals.


1996 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 1255-1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Milner ◽  
G Weitzer ◽  
D Tran ◽  
A Bradley ◽  
Y Capetanaki

Desmin, the muscle specific intermediate filament (IF) protein encoded by a single gene, is expressed in all muscle tissues. In mature striated muscle, desmin IFs surround the Z-discs, interlink them together and integrate the contractile apparatus with the sarcolemma and the nucleus. To investigate the function of desmin in all three muscle types in vivo, we generated desmin null mice through homologous recombination. Surprisingly, desmin null mice are viable and fertile. However, these mice demonstrated a multisystem disorder involving cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle. Histological and electron microscopic analysis in both heart and skeletal muscle tissues revealed severe disruption of muscle architecture and degeneration. Structural abnormalities included loss of lateral alignment of myofibrils and abnormal mitochondrial organization. The consequences of these abnormalities were most severe in the heart, which exhibited progressive degeneration and necrosis of the myocardium accompanied by extensive calcification. Abnormalities of smooth muscle included hypoplasia and degeneration. The present data demonstrate the essential role of desmin in the maintenance of myofibril, myofiber, and whole muscle tissue structural and functional integrity, and show that the absence of desmin leads to muscle degeneration.


2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (42) ◽  
pp. E5660-E5668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guidenn Sulbarán ◽  
Lorenzo Alamo ◽  
Antonio Pinto ◽  
Gustavo Márquez ◽  
Franklin Méndez ◽  
...  

Muscle tissues are classically divided into two major types, depending on the presence or absence of striations. In striated muscles, the actin filaments are anchored at Z-lines and the myosin and actin filaments are in register, whereas in smooth muscles, the actin filaments are attached to dense bodies and the myosin and actin filaments are out of register. The structure of the filaments in smooth muscles is also different from that in striated muscles. Here we have studied the structure of myosin filaments from the smooth muscles of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni. We find, surprisingly, that they are indistinguishable from those in an arthropod striated muscle. This structural similarity is supported by sequence comparison between the schistosome myosin II heavy chain and known striated muscle myosins. In contrast, the actin filaments of schistosomes are similar to those of smooth muscles, lacking troponin-dependent regulation. We conclude that schistosome muscles are hybrids, containing striated muscle-like myosin filaments and smooth muscle-like actin filaments in a smooth muscle architecture. This surprising finding has broad significance for understanding how muscles are built and how they evolved, and challenges the paradigm that smooth and striated muscles always have distinctly different components.


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.


Life Sciences ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuhito Takahashi ◽  
Kunio Hiwada ◽  
Tatsuo Kokubu

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