Isolation and properties of brain alpha-actinin.

alpha-Actinin isolated from bovine brain migrated on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis like muscle alpha-actinin with an apparent mol.wt. of 100000 and cross-reacted with antibodies to muscle alpha-actinin. Brain alpha-actinin modulated actin-myosin Mg2+-activated adenosine triphosphatase activity and, when bound by polystyrene particles, was found to bind muscle actin and tropomyosin from solution. Brain alpha-actinin, in conjunction with the other components of the contractile and relaxing complex, may play a role in the release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles.