DIFFERENTIAL LOCALIZATION AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF CAPPING PROTEIN BETA-SUBUNIT ISOFORMS OF VERTEBRATES

Capping protein nucleates the assembly of actin filaments and stabilizes actin filaments by binding to their barbed ends. We describe here a novel isoform of the beta subunit of chicken capping protein, the beta 2 isoform, which arises by alternative splicing. The chicken beta 1 isoform and the beta 2 isoform are identical in their amino acid sequence except for a short region at the COOH terminus; this region of the beta subunit has been implicated in binding actin. Human and mouse cDNAs of the beta 1 and beta 2 isoforms also were isolated and among these vertebrates, the COOH-terminal region of each isoform is highly conserved. In contrast, comparison of the sequences of the vertebrate beta subunit COOH-termini to those of lower eukaryotes shows no similarities. The beta 2 isoform is the predominant isoform of nonmuscle tissues and the pi isoform, which was first characterized in studies of capping protein from chicken muscle, is the predominant isoform of muscle tissues, as shown by immunoblots probed with isoform-specific antibodies and by RNAse protection analysis of mRNAs. The beta 2 isoform also is a component of dynactin complex from brain, which contains the actin-related protein Arp1. Both beta-subunit isoforms are expressed in cardiac muscle but they have nonoverlapping subcellular distributions. The beta 1 isoform is at Z-discs of myofibrils, and the beta 2 isoform is enriched at intercalated discs; in cardiac myocytes grown in culture, the beta 2 isoform also is a component of cell-cell junctions and at sites where myofibrils contact the sarcolemma. The biochemical basis for the differential distribution of capping protein isoforms is likely due to interaction with specific proteins at Z-discs and cell-cell junctions, or to preferential association with different actin isoforms. Thus, vertebrates have developed isoforms of capping protein that associate with distinct actin-filament arrays.