Myosin Heavy Chain 1 (MYH1)

Myosin is a major contractile protein which converts chemical energy into mechanical energy through the hydrolysis of ATP. Myosin is a hexameric protein composed of a pair of myosin heavy chains (MYH) and two pairs of nonidentical light chains. Myosin heavy chains are encoded by a multigene family. In mammals at least 10 different myosin heavy chain (MYH) isoforms have been described from striated, smooth, and nonmuscle cells. Woodhead et al. (2005) analyzed the structure of a phosphorylation-regulated striated muscle thick filament using cryoelectron microscopy. Three-dimensional reconstruction and atomic fitting studies suggest that the interacting head structure is also present in the filament, and that it may underlie the relaxed state of thick filaments in both smooth and myosin-regulated striated muscles