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Centractin is an actin homologue associated with the centrosome

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Abstract

ACTIN is one of the most ubiquitous, abundant and well-conserved proteins of eukaryotes, participating in many crucial cellular processes including the maintenance of cell shape, motility and cell division1,2. Actins from the most divergent sources still share amino-acid identities in excess of 70% (ref. 3). This may well explain why low-abundance homologues of actin have been difficult to isolate. Genes encoding distant relatives of actin in budding and fission yeast have now been cloned3,4. We report here the discovery of a vertebrate actin-like protein, which we name centractin. A full-length complementary DNA clone was isolated whose sequence reveals amino-acid identities with actin of over 50%, increasing to more than 70% when conservative amino-acid changes are considered. Northern analysis and western blotting indicate a ubiquitous tissue and species distribution. Morphological and biochemical criteria show that centractin is associated with centrosomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Chemistry, UCLA School of Medicine and The Molecular Biology Institute, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Sean W. Clark & David I. Meyer

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  1. Sean W. Clark
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  2. David I. Meyer
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Clark, S., Meyer, D. Centractin is an actin homologue associated with the centrosome. Nature 359, 246–250 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/359246a0

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