Tyrosine phosphorylation of myosin heavy chain during skeletal muscle differentiation: an integrated bioinformatics approach

Harney DF, Butler RK & Edwards RJ (2005): Tyrosine phosphorylation of myosin heavy chain during skeletal muscle differentiation: an integrated bioinformatics approach. Theor. Biol. Med. Model. 2(1):12.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Previously it has been shown that insulin-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of myosin heavy chain is concomitant with enhanced association of C-terminal SRC kinase during skeletal muscle differentiation. We sought to identify putative site(s) for this phosphorylation event.

RESULTS: A combined bioinformatics approach of motif prediction and evolutionary and structural analyses identified tyrosines163 and 1856 of the skeletal muscle heavy chain as the leading candidate for the sites of insulin-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation.

CONCLUSION: Our work is suggestive that tyrosine phosphorylation of myosin heavy chain, whether in skeletal muscle or in platelets, is a significant event that may initiate cytoskeletal reorganization of muscle cells and platelets. Our studies provide a good starting point for further functional analysis of MHC phosphor-signalling events within different cells.

PMID: 15790426