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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Using Microfluidics and Fluorescence Microscopy to Study the Assembly Dynamics of Single Actin Filaments and Bundles
Published on: May 5, 2022
Structure and function analysis of the CMS/CIN85 protein family identifies actin-bundling properties and
Gabriel Gaidos1, Shefali Soni, Duane J Oswald
1Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
Abstract:
Members of the CMS/CIN85 protein family participate in clathrin-mediated endocytosis and play a crucial role in maintaining the kidney filtration barrier. The CMS protein structure includes three Src homology 3 (SH3) domains and a proline-rich (PR) region that is connected by a 'linker' sequence to a coiled-coil (CC) domain. We show that CMS is a component of special actin-rich adhesion structures--podosomes--and demonstrate specific actin-binding properties of CMS. We have found that the entire C-terminal half of CMS is necessary for efficient binding to filamentous actin (F-actin). CMS and CIN85 can crosslink F-actin into bundles, a function that depends on the PR region and the CC domain. Removal of these domains reduces migration. CMS can also form heterotypic complexes with CIN85. CIN85 is expressed as multiple isoforms that share the CC domain, suggesting that heterotypic interactions with CMS provides a mechanism to regulate CMS binding to F-actin and thus for modulating dynamic rearrangements of the cytoskeleton.
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