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Brains and brawn: plectin as regulator and reinforcer of the cytoskeleton
Author(s) -
Allen Philip G.,
Shah Jagesh V.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199906)21:6<451::aid-bies1>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - plectin , cytoskeleton , actin , intermediate filament , microbiology and biotechnology , cytoplasm , biology , microtubule , chemistry , biophysics , cell , genetics
Plectin is a 580 kDa intracellular protein, previously shown to link intermediate filaments with microtubules, actin filaments, and membrane components. Disruption of the plectin gene in humans and in mice results in severe skin blistering and muscular degeneration, consistent with plectin's structural role in stabilizing cells against mechanical force. However, recent work by Andra et al. (1) characterizing cells from plectin‐deficient mice demonstrates that in addition to this structural role, plectin also modulates the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. This makes plectin unusual in that it serves both to reinforce and crosslink intermediate filament attachments to membranes and other cytoskeletal polymers and to regulate actin dynamics in cells. BioEssays 21:451–454, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.