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Protein myozap — a late addition to the molecular ensembles of various kinds of adherens junctions

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Abstract

The protein myozap, a polypeptide of 54 kDa, has recently been identified as a component of the cytoplasmic plaques of the composite junctions (areae compositae) in the myocardiac intercalated disks and of the adherens junctions (AJs) in vascular endothelia. Now we report that using very sensitive new antibodies and drastic localization methods, we have also identified this protein as a component of the AJ plaques in simple and complex epithelia, in the adluminal cell layer of the transitional epithelium of the urinary tract and in certain cell layers of diverse stratified epithelia, including gingiva, tongue, pharynx and esophagus, cervix, vagina and epidermis. Myozap has not been identified in desmosomal and tight junction plaques. We have also detected protein myozap in AJ structures of carcinomas. The discovery of a novel major protein in AJ plaques now calls for re-examinations of molecular interactions in AJ formation and maintenance and also offers a new marker for diagnostic immunocytochemistry. We also discuss the need for progressive unravelling, extractive treatments and buffer rinses of sections and cultured cells to reveal obscured or masked antigens, before definitive negative conclusions in immunohistochemistry can be made.

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Abbreviations

AJ:

adherens junction

IEF:

isoelectric focusing

TJ:

tight junction

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Acknowledgements

We thank Christine Grund for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by the Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMBF; to W.W.F.; START-MSC; grant: 01GN0942).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz Group for Cell Biology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, Building TP4, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Steffen Rickelt, Caecilia Kuhn, Stefanie Winter-Simanowski, Ralf Zimbelmann & Werner Wilhelm Franke

  2. Progen Biotechnik, Heidelberg, Germany

    Steffen Rickelt, Caecilia Kuhn & Werner Wilhelm Franke

  3. Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Norbert Frey

Authors
  1. Steffen Rickelt
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  2. Caecilia Kuhn
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  3. Stefanie Winter-Simanowski
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  4. Ralf Zimbelmann
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  5. Norbert Frey
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  6. Werner Wilhelm Franke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Werner Wilhelm Franke.

Additional information

The originally given name “Myocardium-enriched zonula occludens-1-associated protein” turned out to be not really appropriate as it is now known that protein ZO-1 is associated with the plaques of both tight junctions and adherens junctions (for a recent review see Franke 2010). The approved name of protein “myozap” given November 4, 2011, by the “HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)” is as follows: gene symbol, MYZAP; full name, myocardial zonula adherens protein; alias, MYOZAP.

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Rickelt, S., Kuhn, C., Winter-Simanowski, S. et al. Protein myozap — a late addition to the molecular ensembles of various kinds of adherens junctions. Cell Tissue Res 346, 347–359 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-011-1281-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-011-1281-8

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