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Mlck/Actin Interaction In The Contracting A7r5 Cell And Vascular Smooth Muscle, Sean Eric Thatcher

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is an enzyme that phosphorylates the serine-19 residue on myosin regulatory light chains (MLCs) which serves to activate the Mg2+-ATPase of myosin. This catalytic activity is thought to be the primary role of MLCK; however, it has recently been suggested that MLCK’s actin binding and bundling properties may also be of importance in smooth muscle contraction. In the absence of calcium and calmodulin (CaM), MLCK will bundle actin filaments with its N-terminus. During calcium influx and subsequent CaM activation, MLCK binding to actin decreases resulting in unbundling of actin filaments and allows myosin and actin …