Plastins are Ca2+-regulated actin-bundling proteins, and essential for developing and stabilizing actin cytoskeletons. T-plastin is expressed in epithelial and mesenchymal cells of solid tissues, whereas L-plastin is expressed in mobile cells such as hemopoietic cell lineages and cancer cells.
Using various spectroscopic methods, gel-filtration chromatography, and isothermal titration calorimetry, we here demonstrate that the EF-hand motifs of both T- and L-plastin change their structures in response to Ca2+, but the sensitivity to Ca2+ is lower in T-plastin than in L-plastin. These results suggest that T-plastin is suitable for maintaining static cytoskeletons, whereas L-plastin is suitable for dynamic rearrangement of cytoskeletons. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.