Myoferlin is a

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

that in humans is encoded by the ''MYOF''

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. Mutations in dysferlin, a protein associated with the

plasma membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment (t ...

, can cause

muscle weakness Muscle weakness is a lack of muscle strength. Its causes are many and can be divided into conditions that have either true or perceived muscle weakness. True muscle weakness is a primary symptom of a variety of skeletal muscle diseases, includi ...

that affects both proximal and distal muscles. The protein encoded by this gene is a type II membrane protein that is structurally similar to dysferlin. It is a member of the ferlin family and associates with both plasma and nuclear membranes. Myoferlin contains

C2 domain A C2 domain is a protein structural domain involved in targeting proteins to cell membranes. The typical version (PKC-C2) has a beta-sandwich composed of 8 β-strands that co-ordinates two or three calcium ions, which bind in a cavity formed by ...

s that play a role in calcium-mediated membrane fusion events, suggesting that it may be involved in membrane regeneration and repair. Myoferlin also contains a FerA domain. FerA domains have been shown to interact with the membrane, suggesting that FerA domain in myoferlin may contribute to myoferlin's membrane interaction mechanism. Myoferlin is overexpressed in several types of cancers, especially triple-negative breast cancer. Overexpression of myoferlin is associated with proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells and silencing myoferlin's gene in triple-negative breast cancer can significantly reduce tumor growth and metastatic progression. Two

transcript variants Alternative splicing, or alternative RNA splicing, or differential splicing, is an alternative splicing process during gene expression that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins. In this process, particular exons of a gene may be ...

encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. Other possible variants have been detected, but their full-length natures have not been determined.

References

Further reading