Novel characteristics of a myosin isolated from mammalian retinal pigment epithelial and endothelial cells.

We have isolated a novel, high Mr protein from human retinal pigment epithelial cells and endothelial cells by affinity chromatography on Sepharose 4B. Two polypeptides are present on SDS-gels of the 8 M urea eluent with apparent molecular mass of approximately 210 and 47 kDa. In the absence of dithiothreitol, the two polypeptides migrate as one protein band with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 550 kDa. "Piglet," as this molecule is tentatively named, is present in retinal pigment epithelial and endothelial cells of several species, but could not be detected in the nonepithelial cells we examined. Immunofluorescent localization using an antibody to the 210-kDa polypeptide revealed a filamentous network in the cytoplasm of cultured cells. This antibody was used to identify a cDNA for piglet in a bovine aortic endothelial cell expression library. Sequence data indicate a high degree of identity with non-muscle myosin II heavy chain. We subsequently found that piglet had an actin-activated ATPase activity, colocalized with actin in cells, and reacted on Western blots with a pan-non-muscle myosin II heavy chain antiserum. The protein was also recognized by antibodies specific for myosin heavy chain isoform A, but did not react with anti-isoform B antibodies. Although piglet has several features in common with known forms of non-muscle myosin II, the distinctly unconventional features it displays suggest that it is a novel myosin.