No/cGMP/cGKI signaling in gastrointestinal muscle cells inhibits hormone induced calcium transients and induces relaxation of smooth muscle cells. In the gastrointestinal tract two substrate proteins of cGKI are known: IRAG and ESP1/CRP2. In this study different IRAG mRNA and protein variants in the human gastrointestinal tract were identified. C-terminal truncated isoforms in vitro inhibit IRAG induced inhibition of colonic smooth muscle calcium transients and hence have dominant negative functions. The cGKI downstream protein ESP1/CRP2 is expressed along the gastrointestinal tract, translocates cGKI dependent to the membrane of the nucleus, and could function as a cGKI dependent structure protein with unknown function.
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