Regulation of microtubule dynamics and myogenic differentiation by MURF, a striated muscle RING-finger protein

JA Spencer, S Eliazer, RL Ilaria Jr… - The Journal of cell …, 2000 - rupress.org
JA Spencer, S Eliazer, RL Ilaria Jr, JA Richardson, EN Olson
The Journal of cell biology, 2000rupress.org
The RING-finger domain is a novel zinc-binding Cys-His protein motif found in a growing
number of proteins involved in signal transduction, ubiquitination, gene transcription,
differentiation, and morphogenesis. We describe a novel muscle-specific RING-finger
protein (MURF) expressed specifically in cardiac and skeletal muscle cells throughout pre-
and postnatal mouse development. MURF belongs to the RING-B-box-coiled-coil subclass
of RING-finger proteins, characterized by an NH2-terminal RING-finger followed by a zinc …
The RING-finger domain is a novel zinc-binding Cys-His protein motif found in a growing number of proteins involved in signal transduction, ubiquitination, gene transcription, differentiation, and morphogenesis. We describe a novel muscle-specific RING-finger protein (MURF) expressed specifically in cardiac and skeletal muscle cells throughout pre- and postnatal mouse development. MURF belongs to the RING-B-box-coiled-coil subclass of RING-finger proteins, characterized by an NH2-terminal RING-finger followed by a zinc-finger domain (B-box) and a leucine-rich coiled-coil domain. Expression of MURF is required for skeletal myoblast differentiation and myotube fusion. The leucine-rich coiled-coil domain of MURF mediates association with microtubules, whereas the RING-finger domain is required for microtubule stabilization and an additional region is required for homo-oligomerization. Expression of MURF establishes a cellular microtubule network that is resistant to microtubule depolymerization induced by alkaloids, cold and calcium. These results identify MURF as a myogenic regulator of the microtubule network of striated muscle cells and reveal a link between microtubule organization and myogenesis.
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