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THE CARBOXY‐TERMINUS OF PROTEIN 4.1R RESEMBLES BETA‐TUBULIN
Author(s) -
Fant Xavier,
Merdes Andreas
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
cell biology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1095-8355
pISSN - 1065-6995
DOI - 10.1006/cbir.2002.0866
Subject(s) - tubulin , microtubule , gene isoform , centrosome , epitope , interphase , peptide , peptide sequence , biology , mitosis , microbiology and biotechnology , homology (biology) , amino acid , chemistry , biochemistry , antibody , gene , cell cycle , genetics
The protein 4.1R is an isoform of a larger family of 4.1 proteins. It is known as a component of the plasma membrane skeleton, but it is also found at the centrosomes in interphase and mitosis. To investigate the properties of the carboxy terminal region of protein 4.1R, we raised antibodies against a peptide representing the last 14 amino acids of 4.1R. These antibodies crossreact with an epitope in beta‐tubulin and stain the microtubule network by immunofluorescence. Furthermore, sequence comparison of the carboxy terminal 4.1R peptide sequence with tubulin reveals homology with a region at the end of helix 5 in beta‐tubulin, but not alpha‐tubulin. A potential function of the 4.1R carboxy terminus in regulating the formation of microtubule networks is discussed.