FIGURE 4.

Modification by lipids of the N terminus of smAKAP is crucial for localization. A, sequence alignment of the first seven N-terminal amino acids of smAKAP with various proteins, known to carry myristoylated and/or palmitoylated glycines/cysteines. B, transfection of mutated forms of smAKAP-GFP, G2A (left), blocking myristoylation, results in loss of plasma membrane localization. To a lesser degree, the single mutation, C3A (middle), which blocks palmitoylation of smAKAP-mGFP, similarly hampers membrane localization (middle). The double mutation, G2A/C3A, fully negates binding of smAKAP-mGFP to the membrane (right).