alpha-Actinin and tropomyosin interactions with a hybrid complex of erythrocyte-actin and muscle-myosin.

Abstract alpha-Actinin isolated from dog muscle was used to incite antibodies in rabbits, Antibodies, purified by affinity chromatography on CNBr-Sepharose coupled with alpha-actinin and then ferritin-labeled were found to localize on the Z disc of muscle sarcomeres. Molecules of alpha-actinin as an adsorbed monolayer on the surface of polystyrene Lytron particles could bind muscle-actin and tropomyosin from solution. Both the ATPase activity and superprecipitation of an erythrocyte-actin and muscle-myosin hybrid actomyosin complex were altered by alpha-actinin, while tropomyosin diminished these alpha-actinin effects. The binding properties of alpha-actinin are consistent with those of an anchoring protein for microfilaments in nonmuscle cells.