Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
 630,302 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A general improvement with ageing has been reported in a few cases of epidermolysis bullosa with pyloric atresia (PA-JEB), an autosomal recessive skin disease characterized by extensive disadhesion of epithelia. In a patient who improved from severe to mild PA-JEB, a search for mutations in the integrin beta4 gene (IGTB4) detected heterozygosity for a novel base substitution 3986-19T-->A in the putative branchpoint sequence of intron 31, and a point mutation 3802+1G-->A in the donor splice site of intron 30 previously associated with severe PA-JEB. Analysis of mRNA showed that the intronic mutation prevents legitimate splicing of the beta4 pre-mRNA. Functional splicing can be restored in vitro by seeding the proband's keratinocytes on feeders of irradiated fibroblasts. Study of mRNA in wild-type keratinocytes transfected with IGTB4 minigenes containing intron 31 with or without mutation 3986-19T-->A, confirmed the causative role of the intronic mutation in PA-JEB, and highlighted the influence of feeders on the maturation process of the mutated beta4 pre-mRNA. Our results show that in a context of overall reduction of the beta4 mRNA levels, activation of the legitimate splice site in the aberrant beta4 pre-mRNA underlies the transient severity of the condition. The results also point to the relevance which the interaction between epithelial and stromal cells may have in modulating expression of integrin receptors.
Hum Mol Genet 1999 Oct
PMID:Splicing modulation of integrin beta4 pre-mRNA carrying a branch point mutation underlies epidermolysis bullosa with pyloric atresia undergoing spontaneous amelioration with ageing. 1048 80

The integrin alpha6beta4 has been implicated in two apparently contrasting processes, i.e., the formation of stable adhesions, and cell migration and invasion. To study the dynamic properties of alpha6beta4 in live cells two different beta4-chimeras were stably expressed in beta4-deficient PA-JEB keratinocytes. One chimera consisted of full-length beta4 fused to EGFP at its carboxy terminus (beta4-EGFP). In a second chimera the extracellular part of beta4 was replaced by EGFP (EGFP-beta4), thereby rendering it incapable of associating with alpha6 and thus of binding to laminin-5. Both chimeras induce the formation of hemidesmosome-like structures, which contain plectin and often also BP180 and BP230. During cell migration and division, the beta4-EGFP and EGFP-beta4 hemidesmosomes disappear, and a proportion of the beta4-EGFP, but not of the EGFP-beta4 molecules, become part of retraction fibers, which are occasionally ripped from the cell membrane, thereby leaving "footprints" of the migrating cell. PA-JEB cells expressing beta4-EGFP migrate considerably more slowly than those that express EGFP-beta4. Studies with a beta4-EGFP mutant that is unable to interact with plectin and thus with the cytoskeleton (beta4(R1281W)-EGFP) suggest that the stabilization of the interaction between alpha6beta4 and LN-5, rather than the increased adhesion to LN-5, is responsible for the inhibition of migration. Consistent with this, photobleaching and recovery experiments revealed that the interaction of beta4 with plectin renders the bond between alpha6beta4 and laminin-5 more stable, i.e., beta4-EGFP is less dynamic than beta4(R1281W)-EGFP. On the other hand, when alpha6beta4 is bound to laminin-5, the binding dynamics of beta4 to plectin are increased, i.e., beta4-EGFP is more dynamic than EGFP-beta4. We suggest that the stability of the interaction between alpha6beta4 and laminin-5 is influenced by the clustering of alpha6beta4 through the deposition of laminin-5 underneath the cells. This clustering ultimately determines whether alpha6beta4 will inhibit cell migration or not.
Mol Biol Cell 2002 Nov
PMID:Dynamics of the alpha6beta4 integrin in keratinocytes. 1242 29