Alternate splicing of alpha II-spectrin has been documented and results in multiple transcript variants; specifically, cardiomyocytes have four identified alpha II-spectrin splice variants.[8][9] As opposed to alpha I-spectrin that is principally found in erythrocytes,[10] alpha II-spectrin is expressed in most tissues. In cardiac tissue, alpha II-spectrin is found in myocytes at Z-discs, costameres, and the sarcolemma membrane,[11][12][13] and in cardiac fibroblasts along the surface of the cytoskeletal network.[14] Alpha II-spectrin most commonly exists in a heterodimer with alpha II and beta II spectrin subunits; and dimers typically self-associate and heterotetramerize.[5][15][16]
Function
The spectrins are a family of widely distributed cytoskeletal proteins which are involved in actin crosslinking, cell adhesion, intercellular communication and cell cycle regulation.[17][18][19] Though a role in cardiac muscle is not well understood, it is likely that alpha II-spectrin is involved in organizing sub-sarcolemmal domains and stabilizing sarcolemmal membranes against the stresses associated with continuous cardiac contraction.[16] Functional diversity of alpha II-spectrin is manifest through its four splice variants. First, a cardiac-specific, 21 amino acid sequence insert in the 21st spectrin repeat, termed alpha II-cardi+, was identified as an insert that modulates affinity of alpha II-spectrin for binding beta-spectrins and regulates myocyte growth and differentiation.[8] Secondly, another insert of 20 amino acids in the 10th spectrin repeat, termed SH3i+, contains protein kinase A and protein kinase C phosphorylation sites and modulates Ca2+-dependent cleavage of spectrin and protein-protein interaction properties.[20] Thirdly, an insert of five amino acids in the fifteenth spectrin motif bears a highly antigenic epitope resembling an ankyrin-like p53 binding protein binding site.[8][21] Fourthly, a six amino acid insert in the twenty-first spectrin motif with unknown function has been reported.[11][22]
Alpha II-spectrin gene expression has been shown to be upregulated in cardiac fibroblasts in response to Angiotensin II-induced cardiac remodeling.[23]
In animal models of disease and injury, alpha II-spectrin has been implicated in diverse functions. In a canine model of hypothermic circulatory arrest, alpha II-spectrin breakdown products have shown to be relevant markers of neurologic injury post-cardiac surgery.[24]
Alpha II-spectrin has shown promising utility as a biomarker for brain necrosis and apoptosis in infants with congenital heart disease; breakdown products of alpha II-spectrin have been detected in the serum of neonates in the perioperative period and following open-heart surgery.[26] Elevated protein expression of alpha II-spectrin has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with Guillain–Barré syndrome.[27]
^Bennett PM, Baines AJ, Lecomte MC, Maggs AM, Pinder JC (2004). "Not just a plasma membrane protein: in cardiac muscle cells alpha-II spectrin also shows a close association with myofibrils". Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility. 25 (2): 119–26. doi:10.1023/b:jure.0000035892.77399.51. PMID15360127. S2CID10297147.
^Sormunen R (Sep 1993). "Alpha-spectrin in detergent-extracted whole-mount cytoskeletons of chicken embryo heart fibroblasts". The Histochemical Journal. 25 (9): 678–86. doi:10.1007/bf00157882. PMID8226104. S2CID34132236.
^Sridharan DM, McMahon LW, Lambert MW (Nov 2006). "alphaII-Spectrin interacts with five groups of functionally important proteins in the nucleus". Cell Biology International. 30 (11): 866–78. doi:10.1016/j.cellbi.2006.06.005. PMID16889989. S2CID28863657.
^Writzl K, Primec ZR, Stražišar BG, Osredkar D, Pečarič-Meglič N, Kranjc BS, Nishiyama K, Matsumoto N, Saitsu H (Jun 2012). "Early onset West syndrome with severe hypomyelination and coloboma-like optic discs in a girl with SPTAN1 mutation". Epilepsia. 53 (6): e106–10. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03437.x. PMID22429196. S2CID20216273.
^Hirai H, Matsuda S (September 1999). "Interaction of the C-terminal domain of delta glutamate receptor with spectrin in the dendritic spines of cultured Purkinje cells". Neurosci. Res. 34 (4): 281–7. doi:10.1016/s0168-0102(99)00061-9. PMID10576550. S2CID45794233.
Chow CW (1999). "Regulation and intracellular localization of the epithelial isoforms of the Na+/H+ exchangers NHE2 and NHE3". Clinical and Investigative Medicine. 22 (5): 195–206. PMID10579058.
Hayashi Y, Arakaki R, Ishimaru N (2003). "The role of caspase cascade on the development of primary Sjögren's syndrome". J. Med. Invest. 50 (1–2): 32–8. PMID12630566.
Cianci CD, Giorgi M, Morrow JS (1988). "Phosphorylation of ankyrin down-regulates its cooperative interaction with spectrin and protein 3". J. Cell. Biochem. 37 (3): 301–15. doi:10.1002/jcb.240370305. PMID2970468. S2CID42349239.
1m8m: SOLID-STATE MAS NMR STRUCTURE OF THE A-SPECTRIN SH3 DOMAIN
1pwt: THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF ALPHA-SPECTRIN SH3 AND TWO OF ITS CIRCULAR PERMUTANTS WITH DIFFERENT LOOP LENGTHS: DISCERNING THE REASONS FOR RAPID FOLDING IN PROTEINS
1qkw: ALPHA-SPECTRIN SRC HOMOLOGY 3 DOMAIN, N47G MUTANT IN THE DISTAL LOOP.
1qkx: ALPHA-SPECTRIN SRC HOMOLOGY 3 DOMAIN, N47A MUTANT IN THE DISTAL LOOP.
1shg: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A SRC-HOMOLOGY 3 (SH3) DOMAIN
1u06: crystal structure of chicken alpha-spectrin SH3 domain
1u4q: Crystal Structure of Repeats 15, 16 and 17 of Chicken Brain Alpha Spectrin
1u5p: Crystal Structure of Repeats 15 and 16 of Chicken Brain Alpha Spectrin
1uue: A-SPECTRIN SH3 DOMAIN (V44T, D48G MUTANT)
2cdt: ALPHA-SPECTRIN SH3 DOMAIN A56S MUTANT
2f2v: alpha-spectrin SH3 domain A56G mutant
2f2w: alpha-spectrin SH3 domain R21A mutant
2f2x: alpha-spectrin SH3 domain R21G mutant
2fot: Crystal structure of the complex between calmodulin and alphaII-spectrin
2jm8: R21A Spc-SH3 free
2jm9: R21A Spc-SH3 bound
2jma: R21A Spc-SH3:P41 complex
2nuz: crystal structure of alpha spectrin SH3 domain measured at room temperature