POU domain transcription factors in embryonic development

Molecular Biology Reports -     

Bidirectional transcription of a novel chimeric gene mapping to mouse chromosome Yq

Background  

The male-specific region of the mouse Y chromosome long arm (MSYq) contains three known highly multi-copy X-Y homologous gene families, Ssty1/2, Sly and Asty. Deletions on MSYq lead to teratozoospermia and subfertility or infertility, with a sex ratio skew in the offspring of subfertile MSYqdel males     

一类新型转录因子家族：信号转导剂和转录激活剂

信号转导剂和转录激活剂（ＳＴＡＴ）是近三四年才发现的一类新型转录因子家族。许多配体,尤其是细胞因子,能使ＳＴＡＴ的酪氨酶磷酸化而激活。激活的ＳＴＡＴ蛋白能形成同二聚体和异二聚体,进入细胞核内结合ＤＮＡ序列,调节多个基因表达。这些既在胞浆里起信号转导作用又在胞核内起激活转录作用的双功能蛋白质的发现,为细胞因子信号转导路通研究揭开了新的一页。     

PDZ domain from Dishevelled -- a specificity study

Intracellular signaling cascades induced by Wnt proteins play a key role in developmental processes and are implicated in cancerogenesis. It is still unclear how the cell determines which of the three possible Wnt response mechanisms should be activated, but the decision process is most likely dependent on Dishevelled proteins. Dishevelled family members interact with many diverse targets, however, molecular mechanisms underlying these binding events have not been comprehensively described so far. Here, we investigated the specificity of the PDZ domain from human Dishevelled-2 using C-terminal phage display, which led us to identification of a leucine-rich binding motif strongly resembling the consensus sequence of a nuclear export signal. PDZ interactions with several peptide and protein motifs (including the nuclear export signal sequence from Dishevelled-2 protein) were investigated in detail using fluorescence spectroscopy, mutational analysis and immunoenzymatic assays. The experiments showed that the PDZ domain can bind the nuclear export signal sequence of the Dishevelled-2 protein. Since the intracellular localization of Dishevelled is governed by nuclear localization and nuclear export signal sequences, it is possible that the intramolecular interaction between PDZ domain and the export signal could modulate the balance between nuclear and cytoplasmic pool of the Dishevelled protein. Such a regulatory mechanism would be of utmost importance for the differential activation of Wnt signaling cascades, leading to selective promotion of the nucleus-dependent Wnt β-catenin pathway at the expense of non-canonical Wnt signaling.