Profilin

OMIM: 176610
UniProt: P07737

Profilin is a ubiquitous eukaryotic protein that is important, inter alia, for the formation of the so-called cytoskeleton in the cell. It has an important function for motion sequences in the cell and in the signal transmission between cells.

This 16 kDa actin -binding protein was described in 1976 as a first protein that binds to actin filaments is not, but to actin monomers. Initially it was believed that the function of profilin was to prevent actin at certain points in the polymerization, to release it to a signal and to share in the formation of actin filaments. Since 1995, however, several classes of proteins were known (eg, VASP, WASP, formin ), need the profilin -actin complexes to allow polymerization of actin filaments at all esp. in areas of high motion activity. Profilin binds to such proteins by interacting with sequences that are rich in the amino acid proline. Profilin also has functions in the nucleus, is known of the bit, and binds to PIP2, a fatty molecule found in biological membranes.

In human profilin occurs in at least three isoforms, some of which co-exist in the same cell types and their function is still little known. Profiline bind to at least 50 different proteins.