Tropomodulin 4 (muscle) also known as TMOD4 is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
which in humans is encoded by the ''TMOD4''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
.
Function
This gene encodes a muscle-specific member of the
tropomodulin
Tropomodulin (TMOD) is a protein which binds and caps the minus end of actin (the "pointed" end), regulating the length of actin filaments in muscle and non-muscle cells.
The protein functions by physically blocking the spontaneous dissociation ...
family of
actin
Actin is a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments in the cytoskeleton, and the thin filaments in muscle fibrils. It is found in essentially all eukaryotic cells, where it may be present at a concentration of over ...
-regulatory proteins. The encoded protein caps the pointed end of actin filaments preventing both elongation and depolymerization. The capping activity of this protein is dependent on its association with
tropomyosin
Tropomyosin is a two-stranded alpha-helical, coiled coil protein found in actin-based cytoskeletons.
Tropomyosin and the actin skeleton
All organisms contain organelles that provide physical integrity to their cells. These type of organelles ar ...
. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been described.
References
Further reading
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Tropomodulin