Filamin isoforms in molluscan smooth muscle.

The role of filamin in molluscan catch muscles is unknown. In this work three proteins isolated from the posterior adductor muscle of the sea mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF MS as homologous to mammalian filamin. They were named FLN-270, FLN-230 and FLN-105, according to their apparent molecular weight determined by SDS-PAGE: 270kDa, 230kDa and 105kDa, respectively. Both FLN-270 and FLN-230 contain the C-terminal dimerization domain and the N-terminal actin-binding domain typical of filamins. These findings, together with the data from peptide mass fingerprints, indicate that FLN-270 and FLN-230 are different isoforms of mussel filamin, with FLN-230 being the predominant isoform in the mussel catch muscle. De novo sequencing data revealed structural differences between both filamin isoforms at the rod 2 segment, the one responsible for the interaction of filamin with the most of its binding partners. FLN270 but not FLN230 was phosphorylated in vitro by cAMP-dependent protein kinase. As for the FLN-105, it would be an N-terminal proteolytic fragment generated from the FLN-270 isoform or a C-terminally truncated variant of filamin. On the other hand, a 45-kDa protein that copurifies with mussel catch muscle filamins was identified as the mussel calponin-like protein. The fact that this protein coelutes with the FLN-270 isoform from a gel filtration chromatography suggests a specific interaction between both proteins.