MYO5A

Myosin-Va (MYO5A) is a motor protein in charge of the intracellular transport of vesicles, organelles and protein complexes along the actin filaments. "MYO5A" gene encodes for the unconventional Myosin motor Va.
Structure.
In the presence of cargo adapters and calcium, Myosin Va is present in an elongated and active state. Myosin V has an N-terminal head domain and a C-terminal tail domain. The actin-binding head (N-Terminal) of Myosin V is an ATP-dependent motor domain that transmits changes from the active site to the light chain lever arm. The C-terminal globular domain (GB) decides the Myosin class and moderate the cargo transport. Also, the GB interacts with other cargo specific proteins. Myosin Va is highly expressed in neurons and melanocytes.
Interactions.
MYO5A has been shown to interact with DYNLL1, RAB27A, DYNLL2, RPGRIP1L, Rab3A and miR-145.
In non-primate mammals.
Model organisms have been used in the study of MYO5A function. A conditional knockout mouse line, called "Myo5atm1e(KOMP)Wtsi" was generated as part of the International Knockout Mouse Consortium program—a high-throughput mutagenesis project to generate and distribute animal models of disease to interested scientists.
Male and female animals underwent a standardized phenotypic screen to determine the effects of deletion. Twenty five tests were carried out on mutant mice and three significant abnormalities were observed. Male homozygous mutants had abnormal hair cycles, coat colouration and an increased susceptibility to bacterial infection.
Mutations in this gene cause a form of Griscelli syndrome in horses known as "Lavender Foal Syndrome"