Titin - Structure

Structure

Titin is the largest known protein; its human variant consists of 34,350 amino acids, with the molecular weight of the mature "canonical" isoform of the protein being approximately 3,816,188.13 Da. Its mouse homologue is even larger, comprising 35,213 amino acids with a MW of 3,906,487.6 Da. It has a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.01. The protein's empirical chemical formula is C169 723H270 464N45 688O52 243S912. It has a theoretical instability index (II) of 42.41, classifying the protein as unstable. The protein's in vivo half-life, the time it takes for half of the amount of protein in a cell to break down after its synthesis in the cell, is predicted to be approximately 30 hours (in mammalian reticulocytes).

Titin consists primarily of a linear array of two types of modules (also referred to as protein domains; 244 copies in total): type I (fibronectin type III domain; 132 copies) and type II (immunoglobulin domain; 112 copies). This linear array is further organized into two regions:

N-terminal I-band
acts as the elastic part of the molecule and is composed mainly of type II modules. More specifically the I-band contains two regions of tandem type II immunoglobulin domains on either side of a PEVK region that is rich in proline, glutamate, valine and lysine. Titin is found between the myosin thick filament and the Z disk.
C-terminal A-band
is thought to act as a protein-ruler and possesses kinase activity. The A-band is composed of alternating type I and II modules with super-repeat segments. These have been shown to align to the 43 nm axial repeats of myosin thick filaments with immunoglobulin domains correlating to myosin crowns.

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