ACTA2 (actin alpha 2) is an actinprotein with several aliases including alpha-actin, alpha-actin-2,aortic smooth muscle or alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA, SMactin, alpha-SM-actin, ASMA). Actins are a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments. ACTA2 is one of 6 different actin isoforms and is involved in the contractile apparatus of smooth muscle. ACTA2 (as with all the actins) is extremely highly conserved and found in nearly all mammals.
In humans, ACTA2 is encoded by the ACTA2gene located on 10q22-q24.[5][6] Mutations in this gene cause a variety of vascular diseases, such as thoracic aortic disease, coronary artery disease, stroke, Moyamoya disease, and multisystemic smooth muscle dysfunction syndrome.[5]
ACTA2 (commonly referred to as alpha-smooth muscle actin or α-SMA) is often used as a marker of myofibroblast formation.[7] Studies have shown that ACTA2 is associated with TGF β pathway that enhances contractile properties of Hepatic Stellate Cells leading to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.[8]
Harris DE, Warshaw DM, Periasamy M (March 1992). "Nucleotide sequences of the rabbit alpha-smooth-muscle and beta-non-muscle actin mRNAs". Gene. 112 (2): 265–6. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(92)90388-6. PMID1555776.
Tomasselli AG, Hui JO, Adams L, Chosay J, Lowery D, Greenberg B, Yem A, Deibel MR, Zürcher-Neely H, Heinrikson RL (August 1991). "Actin, troponin C, Alzheimer amyloid precursor protein and pro-interleukin 1 beta as substrates of the protease from human immunodeficiency virus". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 266 (22): 14548–53. PMID1907279.
Jahoda CA, Reynolds AJ, Chaponnier C, Forester JC, Gabbiani G (July 1991). "Smooth muscle alpha-actin is a marker for hair follicle dermis in vivo and in vitro". Journal of Cell Science. 99 ( Pt 3) (3): 627–36. PMID1939373.
Nakano Y, Nishihara T, Sasayama S, Miwa T, Kamada S, Kakunaga T (March 1991). "Transcriptional regulatory elements in the 5' upstream and first intron regions of the human smooth muscle (aortic type) alpha-actin-encoding gene". Gene. 99 (2): 285–9. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(91)90140-7. PMID2022339.
Reddy S, Ozgur K, Lu M, Chang W, Mohan SR, Kumar CC, Ruley HE (January 1990). "Structure of the human smooth muscle alpha-actin gene. Analysis of a cDNA and 5' upstream region". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 265 (3): 1683–7. PMID2295650.
Kamada S, Nakano Y, Kakunaga T (December 1989). "Structure of 3'-downstream segment of the human smooth muscle (aortic-type) alpha-actin-encoding gene and isolation of the specific DNA probe". Gene. 84 (2): 455–62. doi:10.1016/0378-1119(89)90520-9. PMID2612915.
Kedes L, Ng SY, Lin CS, Gunning P, Eddy R, Shows T, Leavitt J (1986). "The human beta-actin multigene family". Transactions of the Association of American Physicians. 98: 42–6. PMID3842206.
Strauch AR, Rubenstein PA (June 1984). "A vascular smooth muscle alpha-isoactin biosynthetic intermediate in BC3H1 cells. Identification of acetylcysteine at the NH2 terminus". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 259 (11): 7224–9. PMID6725286.
Human ACTA2 genome location and ACTA2 gene details page in the UCSC Genome Browser.
v
t
PDB gallery
1atn: Atomic structure of the actin:DNASE I complex
1c0f: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF DICTYOSTELIUM CAATP-ACTIN IN COMPLEX WITH GELSOLIN SEGMENT 1
1c0g: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF 1:1 COMPLEX BETWEEN GELSOLIN SEGMENT 1 AND A DICTYOSTELIUM/TETRAHYMENA CHIMERA ACTIN (MUTANT 228: Q228K/T229A/A230Y/E360H)
1d4x: Crystal Structure of Caenorhabditis Elegans Mg-ATP Actin Complexed with Human Gelsolin Segment 1 at 1.75 A resolution.
1dej: CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A DICTYOSTELIUM/TETRAHYMENA CHIMERA ACTIN (MUTANT 646: Q228K/T229A/A230Y/A231K/S232E/E360H) IN COMPLEX WITH HUMAN GELSOLIN SEGMENT 1
1eqy: COMPLEX BETWEEN RABBIT MUSCLE ALPHA-ACTIN: HUMAN GELSOLIN DOMAIN 1