Description
Principle of the Assay: This assay employs a two-site sandwich ELISA to quantitative ACTN-4 in Human serum, plasma. An antibody specific for ACTN-4 has been pre-coated onto a microplate. Standards and samples are pipetted into the wells and any ACTN-4 present is bound by the immobilized antibody. After removing any unbound substances, a biotin - conjugated antibody specific for ACTN-4 is added to the wells. After washing, Streptavidin conjugated Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to the wells. Following a wash to remove any unbound avidin-enzyme reagent, a substrate solution is added to the wells and color develops in proportion to the amount of ACTN-4 bound in the initial step. The color development is stopped and the intensity of the color is measured.
Background: Alpha-actinin-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ACTN4 gene. Alpha actinins belong to the spectrin gene superfamily which represents a diverse group of cytoskeletal proteins, including the alpha and beta spectrins and dystrophins. Alpha actinin is an actin-binding protein with multiple roles in different cell types. In nonmuscle cells, the cytoskeletal isoform is found along microfilament bundles and adherens-type junctions, where it is involved in binding actin to the membrane. In contrast, skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle isoforms are localized to the Z-disc and analogous dense bodies, where they help anchor the myofibrillar actin filaments. This gene encodes a nonmuscle, alpha actinin isoform which is concentrated in the cytoplasm, and thought to be involved in metastatic processes. Mutations in this gene have been associated with focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis. Actinin alpha 4 has been shown to interact with PDLIM1, Sodium-hydrogen exchange regulatory cofactor 2, Collagen, type XVII, alpha 1, CAMK2A, CAMK2B, MAGI1 and TRIM3