WangCompPhysiol'18.pdf

Sarcomeres consist of highly ordered arrays of thick myosin and thin actin filaments along withaccessory proteins. Thick filaments occupy the center of sarcomeres where they partially overlapwith thin filaments. The sliding of thick filaments past thin filaments is a highly regulated processthat occurs in an ATP-dependent manner driving muscle contraction. In addition to myosin thatmakes up the backbone of the thick filament, four other proteins which are intimately bound to thethick filament, myosin binding protein-C, titin, myomesin, and obscurin play important structuraland regulatory roles. Consistent with this, mutations in the respective genes have been associatedwith idiopathic and congenital forms of skeletal and cardiac myopathies. In this review, we aim tosummarize our current knowledge on the molecular structure, subcellular localization, interactingpartners, function, modulation via posttranslational modifications, and disease involvement ofthese five major proteins that comprise the thick filament of striated muscle cells