MYH7

MYH7 is a gene encoding a myosin heavy chain beta (MHC-β) isoform (slow twitch) expressed primarily in the heart, but also in skeletal muscles (type I fibers). This isoform is distinct from the fast isoform of cardiac myosin heavy chain, MYH6, referred to as MHC-α. MHC-β is the major protein comprising the thick filament in cardiac muscle and plays a major role in cardiac muscle contraction.

Structure

MHC-β is a 223 kDa protein composed of 1935 amino acids.MHC-β is a hexameric, asymmetric motor forming the bulk of the thick filament in cardiac muscle. MHC-β is composed of N-terminal globular heads (20 nm) that project laterally, and alpha helical tails (130 nm) that dimerize and multimerize into a coiled-coil motif to form the light meromyosin (LMM), thick filament rod. The 9 nm alpha-helical neck region of each MHC-β head non-covalently binds two light chains, essential light chain (MYL3) and regulatory light chain (MYL2). Approximately 300 myosin molecules constitute one thick filament. There are two isoforms of cardiac MHC, α and β, which display 93% homology. MHC-α and MHC-β display significantly different enzymatic properties, with α having 150-300% the contractile velocity and 60-70% actin attachment time as that of β. MHC-β is predominately expressed in the human ventricle, while MHC-α is predominantly expressed in human atria.