Ss. Mann et Ja. Hammarback, MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF LIGHT CHAIN-3 - A MICROTUBULE-BINDING SUBUNIT OF MAP1A AND MAP1B, The Journal of biological chemistry, 269(15), 1994, pp. 11492-11497
Light chain 3 (LC3) is a subunit of the neuronal microtubule-associate
d proteins (MAPs), MAP1A and MAP1B. Recent findings show that the cDNA
s for MAP1A and MAP1B encode polyproteins that contain the MAP1A or MA
P1B heavy chain and a LC2 or LC1 subunit, respectively. We have sequen
ced a cDNA encoding rat LC3, and its sequence is not found in the MAP1
A/LC2 or MAP1B/LC1 polyprotein cDNAs. The deduced amino acid sequence
of LC3 is highly conserved between rat and mouse. Rat LC3 is a 16.4-kD
a protein with a predicted pI of 9.2. It is encoded on a 1.7-kilobase
mRNA. Our anti-LC3 antiserum shows that LC3 is abundant only in neuron
s and that the majority of LC3 in brain co-purifies with microtubules.
Purified recombinant rat LC3 retains the ability to associate with mi
crotubules assembled in the presence of brain MAPs and with microtubul
es assembled from purified tubulin. We propose that LC3 functions prim
arily as a MAP1A and MAP1B subunit and that its expression could regul
ate the microtubule binding activity of MAP1A and MAP1B.