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Vol. 17, Issue 6, 2722-2734, June 2006

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Caenorhabditis elegans Kettin, a Large Immunoglobulin-like Repeat Protein, Binds to Filamentous Actin and Provides Mechanical Stability to the Contractile Apparatuses in Body Wall Muscle

Department of Pathology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322

Submitted February 7, 2006; Revised March 9, 2006; Accepted March 23, 2006
Monitoring Editor: Thomas Pollard

Kettin is a large actin-binding protein with immunoglobulin-like (Ig) repeats, which is associated with the thin filaments in arthropod muscles. Here, we report identification and functional characterization of kettin in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that one of the monoclonal antibodies that were raised against C. elegans muscle proteins specifically reacts with kettin (Ce-kettin). We determined the entire cDNA sequence of Ce-kettin that encodes a protein of 472 kDa with 31 Ig repeats. Arthropod kettins are splice variants of much larger connectin/titin-related proteins. However, the gene for Ce-kettin is independent of other connectin/titin-related genes. Ce-kettin localizes to the thin filaments near the dense bodies in both striated and nonstriated muscles. The C-terminal four Ig repeats and the adjacent non-Ig region synergistically bind to actin filaments in vitro. RNA interference of Ce-kettin caused weak disorganization of the actin filaments in body wall muscle. This phenotype was suppressed by inhibiting muscle contraction by a myosin mutation, but it was enhanced by tetramisole-induced hypercontraction. Furthermore, Ce-kettin was involved in organizing the cytoplasmic portion of the dense bodies in cooperation with -actinin. These results suggest that kettin is an important regulator of myofibrillar organization and provides mechanical stability to the myofibrils during contraction.

The online version of this article contains supplemental material at MBC Online (http://www.molbiolcell.org).

* Present address: Department of Biophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.

Address correspondence to: Shoichiro Ono ( sono{at}emory.edu)

Abbreviations used: GST, glutathione S-transferase; Ig, immunoglobulin-like; RNAi, RNA interference.

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