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US 7,071,318 B2Granted
Methods and compositions for stabilizing microtubules and intermediate filaments in striated muscle cells
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsEric N. Olson, Jeffrey A. Spencer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention discloses new muscle ring finger (MURF) proteins designate MURF-1, MURF-2 and MURF-3. The genes encoding these MURFs also are provided. MURFs interact with microtubules and thus play a role in cytoskeletal function, mitosis and cell growth. Thus, the uses of MURFs in diagnosis, treatment and drug screening, in particular relation to cardiomyopathies, are described.
Claims15
An isolated DNA segment encoding a MURF-3 polypeptide either having:
- (i) the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:6;
- or
- (ii) a variant of the amino acid sequence set forth in in SEQ ID NO:6 capable of binding a microtubule wherein the variant is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence that hybridizes to SEQ ID NO:5, from position 299 through position 1327, inclusive, under conditions of 10 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.3), 50 mM KCl, and 1.5 μm MgCl2 at a temperature of 72° C.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.