Tennessee State University Digital Scholarship @ Tennessee State University Biology Faculty Research Department of Biological Sciences 1-26-2018 Microtubule-Actin Crosslinking Factor 1 and Plakins as Therapeutic Drug Targets Quincy A. Quick Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/biology_fac Part of the Pharmacology Commons Recommended Citation Quick, Q.A. Microtubule-Actin Crosslinking Factor 1 and Plakins as Therapeutic Drug Targets. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19, 368. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19020368 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biological Sciences at Digital Scholarship @ Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Biology Faculty Research by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship @ Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Microtubule-Actin Crosslinking Factor 1 and Plakins as Therapeutic Drug Targets Quincy A. Quick Department of Biological Sciences, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209, USA;
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-(615) 963-5768 Received: 11 December 2017; Accepted: 23 January 2018; Published: 26 January 2018 Abstract: Plakins are a family of seven cytoskeletal cross-linker proteins (microtubule-actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF), bullous pemphigoid antigen (BPAG1) desmoplakin, envoplakin, periplakin, plectin, epiplakin) that network the three major filaments that comprise the cytoskeleton. Plakins have been found to be involved in disorders and diseases of the skin, heart, nervous system, and cancer that are attributed to autoimmune responses and genetic alterations of these macromolecules. Despite their role and involvement across a spectrum of several diseases, there are no current drugs or pharmacological agents that specifically target the members of this protein family.