Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.6.4.1 (myosin ATPase)
 1,140 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Caldesmon (CaD) is a multimodular protein that regulates contractility and actin cytoskeleton remodeling in smooth muscle and nonmuscle cells. A single gene (CALD1) encodes high molecular mass CaD (h-CaD) and low molecular mass CaD (l-CaD) by alternative splicings. The h-CaD exclusively expresses in smooth muscle, whereas the l-CaD ubiquitously expresses in all cell types except skeletal muscle. The h-CaD/l-CaD ratio could be a marker for monitoring differentiating and pathological states of smooth muscles. The l-CaD associates with stress fibers and membrane ruffles in nonmuscle cells and with the actin core of podosomes in highly motile/invasive cells. Together with tropomyosin, CaD stabilizes actin filaments and inhibits actin-tropomyosin-activated myosin ATPase activity. This inhibition can be effectively released by Ca(2+)-calmodulin and/or by phosphorylation with various kinases. Through its interactions with a spectrum of actin-binding proteins, CaD modulates dynamics of cortical actin networks and stress fibers, which are essential to cell motility and cytoskeleton rearrangement. Regulation of CaD level and its activity may provide a novel strategy for gene therapy.
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PMID:Chapter 1: roles of caldesmon in cell motility and actin cytoskeleton remodeling. 1934 35