BAG3: Nature’s Quintessential Multi-Functional Protein Functions as a Ubiquitous Intra-Cellular Glue

Caitlyn M. Brenner; Muaaz Choudhary; Michael G. McCormick; David Cheung; Gavin P. Landesberg; Ju-Fang Wang; Jianliang Song; Thomas G. Martin; Joseph Y. Cheung; Hui-Qi Qu; Hakon Hakonarson; Arthur M. Feldman

doi:10.3390/cells12060937

Cells (Mar 2023)

BAG3: Nature’s Quintessential Multi-Functional Protein Functions as a Ubiquitous Intra-Cellular Glue

Caitlyn M. Brenner,
Muaaz Choudhary,
Michael G. McCormick,
David Cheung,
Gavin P. Landesberg,
Ju-Fang Wang,
Jianliang Song,
Thomas G. Martin,
Joseph Y. Cheung,
Hui-Qi Qu,
Hakon Hakonarson,
Arthur M. Feldman

Affiliations

Caitlyn M. Brenner: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Muaaz Choudhary: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Michael G. McCormick: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
David Cheung: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Gavin P. Landesberg: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Ju-Fang Wang: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Jianliang Song: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Thomas G. Martin: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Colorado University School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Joseph Y. Cheung: Division of Renal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Hui-Qi Qu: Center for Applied Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 191104, USA
Hakon Hakonarson: Center for Applied Genomics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 191104, USA
Arthur M. Feldman: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, MERB 752, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12060937
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 6
p. 937

Abstract

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BAG3 is a 575 amino acid protein that is found throughout the animal kingdom and homologs have been identified in plants. The protein is expressed ubiquitously but is most prominent in cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, the brain and in many cancers. We describe BAG3 as a quintessential multi-functional protein. It supports autophagy of both misfolded proteins and damaged organelles, inhibits apoptosis, maintains the homeostasis of the mitochondria, and facilitates excitation contraction coupling through the L-type calcium channel and the beta-adrenergic receptor. High levels of BAG3 are associated with insensitivity to chemotherapy in malignant cells whereas both loss of function and gain of function variants are associated with cardiomyopathy.

Published in Cells

ISSN: 2073-4409 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General): Cytology
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells

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