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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Study of the Actin Cytoskeleton in Live Endothelial Cells Expressing GFP-Actin
Published on: November 18, 2011
Transglutaminase 1 stabilizes beta-actin in endothelial cells correlating with a stabilization of intercellular
Werner Baumgartner1, Agnes Weth
1Department of Cellular Neurobionics, Institute of Biology II, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, and Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Wurzburg, Wurzburg, Germany.
Abstract:
Microvascular endothelial monolayers from mouse myocardium become resistant to various barrier-compromising stimuli correlating with the expression of transglutaminase 1 (TGase1) and its translocation towards cellular junctions. In contrast, endothelial monolayers from mouse lung microvessels do not express TGase1 and remain sensitive to barrier-compromising stimuli corresponding to the known in vivo sensitivity of the lung microvasculature. Using the TGase-substrate 5-(biotinamido)-pentylamine, specific TGase inhibitors and RNAi, one target protein of TGase1 in endothelial cells was found to be beta-actin, suggesting that tissue-specific stabilization of the cortical actin filament network by intracellular TGase1 activity may play a role in controlling barrier properties of endothelial monolayers.
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