Troponin I, also known as TNI, is a 24 kDa component of a protein complex on striated muscle thin filaments.Troponin is the central regulatory protein of striated muscle contraction. Tn consists of three components: Tn-I which is the inhibitor of actomyosin ATPase, Tn-T which contains the binding site for tropomyosin and Tn-C. The binding of calcium to Tn-C abolishes the inhibitory action of Tn on actin filaments. Troponin I inhibits the calcium-dependent muscle contraction mediated by Troponins C and T. The expression of cardiac Troponin I (TNNI3) is restricted to cardiac muscle, while TNNI1 and TNNI2 (encoded by distinct genes) are expressed in skeletal muscle. Mutations of cardiac Troponin I are associated with heriditary cardiomyopathy. Human cardiac Troponin I shares 93% amino acid sequence identity with mouse and rat cardiac Troponin I.
