Abstract
Myelin is a membrane characteristic of the nervous tissue and functions as an insulator to increase the velocity of the stimuli being transmitted between a nerve cell body and its target. Myelin isolated from human and bovine nervous tissue is composed of approximatelg 80% lipid and 20% protein, and 30% of the protein fraction constitutes myelin basic protein (MBP). MBP has an unusual amino acid at Res-107 as a mixture of N(G)-monomethylarginine and N(G), N(G)-dimethylarginine. The formation of these methylarginine derivatives is catalysed by one of the subtypes of protein methylase I, which specifically methylates Res-107 of this protein. Evidence is presented to demonstrate an involvement of this biological methylation in the integrity and maintenance of myelin.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 743-751 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1997 May |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgement.s-This work was partially supported by “Brain Pool” grants from Korea Science and Engineering Foundation to S. Kim and W. K. Paik, and by grant No. 95-102 to I. K. L.im and No. 055 to G-H. Park from the Korea Ministry cf Education.
Keywords
- MBP methylation
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myelin basic protein
- Protein-arginine methylation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology