We determined the actin isotypes encoded by 30 actin cDNA clones previously isolated from an adult human muscle cDNA library. Using 3' untranslated region probes derived from a-skeletal, 13and -y-actin cDNAs and from an a-cardiac actin genomic clone, we showed that 28 of the cDNAs correspond to a-skeletal actin transcripts. Unexpectedly, however, the remaining two cDNA clones proved to derive f...

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known to contain the highly conserved and unbiquitous protein actin. We have used cloned actin sequences from Dictyostelium discoideum to identify and clone the actin gene in yeast. Hybridization to genomic fragments of yeast DNA suggest that there is a single actin gene in yeast. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of that gene and its flanking regi...

Actins play essential roles in cellular morphogenesis. In mice, the t-actin 1 and 2 genes, which encode actin-like proteins, are specifically expressed in haploid germ cells. Both T-ACTIN 1/ACTLB and T-ACTIN 2/ACTL7A have also been cloned as orthologous genes in humans; they are present on chromosome 9q31.3 as intronless genes. Defects of germ cell-specific genes can introduce infertility witho...

The smooth muscle (SM) alpha-actin gene activated during the early stages of embryonic cardiovascular development is switched off in late stage heart tissue and replaced by cardiac and skeletal alpha-actins. SM alpha-actin also appears during vascular development, but becomes the single most abundant protein in adult vascular smooth muscle cells. Tissue-specific expression of SM alpha-actin is ...

An alpha actin gene segment, isolated from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), was characterized by nucleotide sequencing, predicted amino acid sequence and Southern blot hybridization. Genomic DNA amplification resulted in a 1063-bp fragment corresponding to a partial α-cardiac muscle actin gene containing exons 3 to 6. Southern blot analysis of the restriction-digested DNA revealed that the...

Gene conversion and positive selection are often proposed as mechanisms for the evolution of biological molecules. Changes in sequence similarity have been used as evidence for gene conversion (Crain et al., 1987). Evidence for the evolution of the actin gene family by gene conversion in the echinoderms, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and Pisaster ochraceus, came from amino acid and DNA sequence...

Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia is a rare autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome, immunodeficiency, and spondyloepiphy-seal dysplasia. Mutations in SWI/SNF2 related, matrix associated, actin dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily a-like 1 (SMARCAL1) gene are responsible for the disease. The present report describes, for the f...

Specific DNA fragments complementary to the 3' untranslated regions of the beta-, alpha-cardiac, and alpha-skeletal actin mRNAs were used as in situ hybridization probes to examine differential expression and distribution of these mRNAs in primary myogenic cultures. We demonstrated that prefusion bipolar-shaped cells derived from day 3 dissociated embryonic somites were equivalent to myoblasts ...

The highly homologous β (βcyto) and γ (γcyto) cytoplasmic actins are hypothesized to carry out both redundant and unique essential functions, but studies using targeted gene knockout and siRNA-mediated transcript knockdown to examine βcyto- and γcyto-isoform--specific functions in various cell types have yielded conflicting data. Here we quantitatively characterized actin transcript and protein...