Notably, pellets from the initial centrifugation steps (200?g, 1,500?g, and 16,000?g, expected to contain the nuclei and large intracellular debris (200?g), as well as highly crosslinked and stable fractions of cytoskeleton (1,500?g and 16,000?g)) contained proportionally larger fraction of R-actin compared to the -actin content in the same fractions (2C5 fold enrichment). is relatively low, it is consistently present on the majority of de novo synthesized actin)5,6 and Asp2 (not previously demonstrated, but assumed based on mass spectrometry identification of the corresponding peptides in multiple actin samples). To date, N-terminal arginylation is the only known posttranslational modification that can selectively affect only one actin isoform. Our follow-up work demonstrated that the specificity of N-terminal arginylation to -, but not -actin is not regulated at the amino acid level, but rather is driven by differences in their nucleotide coding sequences that confer differences in their translation rates7. -actin arginylation has been suggested to be important for the maintenance of the cell leading edge4, as well as for defining the speed and directionality of cell migration8, and facilitating neurite outgrowth in neurons9. Moreover, recent studies showed that N-terminal actin arginylation, IFNGR1 initially characterized only in mammalian cells, also exists in evolutionarily lower species: an abundant actin isoform in undergoes N-terminal arginylation, and lack of arginylation in leads to (-)-Gallocatechin gallate defects in actin cytoskeleton, substrate adhesion, and cell motility10. Thus, selective actin isoform regulation by N-terminal arginylation during cell migration may potentially turn out to be a universal mechanism conserved in different eukaryotic species. Despite functional data about the importance of arginylation to the normal functioning of the actin cytoskeleton, progress in these studies so far has been hindered by the fact that detection of intracellular arginylated actin is very difficult and is not routinely observed during actin analysis. The majority of the intracellular actin is N-terminally acetylated, and the action of the recently identified actin N-terminal acetyltransferase NAA80 appears to be structurally incompatible with arginylation5. Thus, the questions of abundance and occurrence of N-terminal actin arginylation in different cells and tissues, and the exact percentage of actin arginylation among the total intracellular actin pool, constitute the focus of immediate importance in the field. The present study represents the first quantification of the percentage of arginylated actin in different cells and tissues, under different physiological conditions. We find that while the steady-state level of arginylated actin is relatively low, it is consistently present may be at least somewhat less metabolically stable than non-arginylated actin15. To test whether the fraction of arginylated actin in the cell is sensitive to either translation or proteasome inhibitors, we compared the R-actin levels in cell lysates from confluent MEF cultures, treated with the translation inhibitor cycloheximide, proteasome inhibitor MG132, or DMSO control. Both inhibitor treatments led to a slight reduction in the arginylated actin levels compared to control, however these changes were not statistically significant (Fig.?3). Thus, translation and proteasome activity do not have a (-)-Gallocatechin gallate significant effect on the R-actin level. Open in a separate window Figure 3 Percentage of N-terminal?-actin arginylation is not affected by inhibition of translation or proteasome degradation. Left, Western blots of confluent MEF cells treated with MG132, cycloheximide?(CH), or?0.1% DMSO control f. Right, quantification of total fluorescence from the R-actin band, normalized according to the?signal of (-)-Gallocatechin gallate total (-)-Gallocatechin gallate protein staining. Error bars represent (-)-Gallocatechin gallate SEM, n?=?5. Multiple past studies demonstrate the role of arginylation in normal development and functioning of a number of organ systems, including brain, heart, and.