scholarly journals huASH1 protein, a putative transcription factor encoded by a human homologue of the Drosophila ash1 gene, localizes to both nuclei and cell-cell tight junctions

2000 ◽  
Vol 97 (13) ◽  
pp. 7284-7289 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Nakamura ◽  
J. Blechman ◽  
S. Tada ◽  
T. Rozovskaia ◽  
T. Itoyama ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Yichen Dai ◽  
Sonia Trigueros ◽  
Peter W. H. Holland

AbstractGerbils are a subfamily of rodents living in arid regions of Asia and Africa. Recent studies have shown that several gerbil species have unusual amino acid changes in the PDX1 protein, a homeodomain transcription factor essential for pancreatic development and β-cell function. These changes were linked to strong GC-bias in the genome that may be caused by GC-biased gene conversion, and it has been hypothesized that this caused accumulation of deleterious changes. Here we use two approaches to examine if the unusual changes are adaptive or deleterious. First, we compare PDX1 protein sequences between 38 rodents to test for association with habitat. We show the PDX1 homeodomain is almost totally conserved in rodents, apart from gerbils, regardless of habitat. Second, we use ectopic gene overexpression and gene editing in cell culture to compare functional properties of PDX1 proteins. We show that the divergent gerbil PDX1 protein inefficiently binds an insulin gene promoter and ineffectively regulates insulin expression in response to high glucose in rat cells. The protein has, however, retained the ability to regulate some other β-cell genes. We suggest that during the evolution of gerbils, the selection-blind process of biased gene conversion pushed fixation of mutations adversely affecting function of a normally conserved homeodomain protein. We argue these changes were not entirely adaptive and may be associated with metabolic disorders in gerbil species on high carbohydrate diets. This unusual pattern of molecular evolution could have had a constraining effect on habitat and diet choice in the gerbil lineage.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 511-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorina Avram ◽  
Alan T Bakalinsky

Abstract An ssu2 mutation in Sacccharomyces cermisiae, previously shown to cause sulfite sensitivity, was found to be allelic to GRR1, a gene previously implicated in glucose repression. The suppressor rgt1, which suppresses the growth defects of grr1 strains on glucose, did not fully suppress the sensitivity on glucose or nonglucose carbon sources, indicating that it is not strictly linked to a defect in glucose metabolism. Because the Cln1 protein was previously shown to be elevated in grr1 mutants, the effect of CLN1 overexpression on sulfite sensitivity was investigated. Overexpression in GRR1 cells resulted in sulfite sensitivity, suggesting a connection between CLN1 and sulfite metabolism. Multicopy FZF1, a putative transcription factor, was found to suppress the sulfite sensitive phenotype of grr1 strains, but not the glucose derepression or aberrant cell morphology. Multicopy FZF1 was also found to suppress the sensitivity of a number of other unrelated sulfite-sensitive mutants, but not that of ssu1 or met20, implying that FZF1 may act through Ssulp and Met20p. Disruption of FZF1 resulted in sulfite sensitivity when the construct was introduced in single copy at the FZF1 locus in a GRR1 strain, providing evidence that FZF1 is involved in sulfite metabolism.


2002 ◽  
Vol 115 (16) ◽  
pp. 3331-3340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Perego ◽  
Cristina Vanoni ◽  
Silvia Massari ◽  
Andrea Raimondi ◽  
Sandra Pola ◽  
...  

As little is known about the role of cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion in astrocytes and its alteration in migrating and invasive glioblastomas, we investigated its molecular composition and organisation in primary cultured astrocytes and the T98G and U373MG glioblastoma cell lines. Biochemical and morphological analysis indicated that all three cell types express all of the structural components of the adhesion system, including the LIN-7 PDZ protein,a novel component involved in the organisation of the junctional domain in epithelia and neurons. However, only the astrocytes and T98G cells generated and maintained mature adhesive junctional domains to which LIN-7 was recruited. Alterations in the junctional domain of U373MG cells were associated with higher motility in a poly-L-lysine migration assay. When the T98G cells were cultured on Matrigel matrix, they acquired invasive properties but, despite unchanged cadherin adhesion system protein levels, the invasive T98G cell-cell contacts failed to accumulate LIN-7 and failed to mature. These results identify the LIN-7 PDZ protein as a marker of cell adhesion maturity and cell invasion and indicate that instability and disorganisation of cadherin-mediated junctions rather than reduced expression of cadherin-catenin system components are required to promote migration and invasiveness in glioblastoma cell lines.


2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A.L. Sieminska ◽  
X. Xu ◽  
A. Savchenko ◽  
D. A.R. Sanders

2004 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Köhler ◽  
Daniel Louvard ◽  
Ahmed Zahraoui

The GTPase Rab13 regulates the assembly of functional epithelial tight junctions (TJs) through a yet unknown mechanism. Here, we show that expression of the GTP-bound form of Rab13 inhibits PKA-dependent phosphorylation and TJ recruitment of the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, an actin remodelling protein. We demonstrate that Rab13GTP directly binds to PKA and inhibits its activity. Interestingly, activation of PKA abrogates the inhibitory effect of Rab13 on the recruitment of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, ZO-1, and claudin1 to cell–cell junctions. Rab13 is, therefore, the first GTPase that controls PKA activity and provides an unexpected link between PKA signaling and the dynamics of TJ assembly.


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