How protein networks stabilize muscle fibers: Same mechanism known for DNA now found for muscle proteins
Monday, January 23, 2012 - 10:20
in Biology & Nature
The same mechanism that stabilizes the DNA in the cell nucleus is also important for the structure and function of vertebrate muscle cells. An enzyme attaches a methyl group to the protein Hsp90, which then forms a complex with the muscle protein titin. When the researchers disrupted this protein network through genetic manipulation in zebrafish the muscle structure partly disintegrated. The scientists have thus shown that methylation also plays a significant role outside the nucleus.