Muskelin 1 (MKLN1)

Muskelin is an intracellular protein that acts as a mediator of cell spreading and cytoskeletal responses to the extracellular matrix component thrombospondin I. Human MKLN1 encodes a deduced 735-amino acid polypeptide that shares 98% amino acid identity with the mouse protein. The primary structural features of muskelin, including 6 kelch motifs within the C-terminal region, are conserved between mouse and human. The mouse protein is strongly expressed in adult tissues .muskelin interacted with N-terminally truncated RANBPM (RANBP9). Immunoprecipitation and gel filtration analysis revealed that a proportion of GST-fused human muskelin associated with Ranbpm and Twa1 (C20ORF1) in a 670-kD protein complex in transfected COS-7 cells.