Tissue expression and actin binding of a novel N-terminal utrophin isoform.

Utrophin and dystrophin present two large proteins that link the intracellular actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix via the C-terminal-associated protein complex. Here we describe a novel short N-terminal isoform of utrophin and its protein product in various rat tissues (N-utro, 62  kDa, amino acids 1-539, comprising the actin-binding domain plus the first two spectrin repeats). Using different N-terminal recombinant utrophin fragments, we show that actin binding exhibits pronounced negative cooperativity (affinity constants K(1) = -5 × 10(6) and K(2) =-1 × 10(5 )M(-1)) and is Ca(2+)-insensitive.

Phosphorylation regulates transcriptional activity of PAX3/FKHR and reveals novel therapeutic possibilities.

Inhibition of constitutive active signaling pathways, which are a characteristic phenomenon for many tumors, can be an effective therapeutic strategy. In contrast, oncogenic transcription factors, often activated by mutational events, are in general less amenable to small-molecule inhibition despite their obvious importance as therapeutic targets. One example of this is alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS), in which specific translocations lead to the formation of the chimeric transcription factor PAX3/FKHR.