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James Hayes

University of Tennessee


Dylan Burnette lab

Despite their importance for muscle function, we still do not fully understand how sarcomeres are made. The classical marker of “Z-lines” in cardiac sarcomeres is a protein called alpha-actinin 2. However, we have discovered that two paralogues of this protein , alpha-actinin 1 and 4, also localize to Z-lines. I am characterizing these proteins and their importance for sarcomere assembly in cardiac myocytes.