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Query: UNIPROT:P06889 (Mol)
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The ability of basic helix-loop-helix muscle regulatory factors (MRFs), such as MyoD, to convert nonmuscle cells to a myogenic lineage is regulated by numerous growth factor and oncoprotein signaling pathways. Previous studies have shown that H-Ras 12V inhibits differentiation to a skeletal muscle lineage by disrupting MRF function via a mechanism that is independent of the dimerization, DNA binding, and inherent transcriptional activation properties of the proteins. To investigate the intracellular signaling pathway(s) that mediates the inhibition of MRF-induced myogenesis by oncogenic Ras, we tested two transformation-defective H-Ras 12V effector domain variants for their ability to alter terminal differentiation. H-Ras 12V,35S retains the ability to activate the Raf/MEK/mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade, whereas H-Ras 12V,40C is unable to interact directly with Raf-1 yet still influences other signaling intermediates, including Rac and Rho. Expression of each H-Ras 12V variant in C3H10T1/2 cells abrogates MyoD-induced activation of the complete myogenic program, suggesting that MAP kinase-dependent and -independent Ras signaling pathways individually block myogenesis in this model system. However, additional studies with constitutively activated Rac1 and RhoA proteins revealed no negative effects on MyoD-induced myogenesis. Similarly, treatment of Ras-inhibited myoblasts with the MEK1 inhibitor PD98059 revealed that elevated MAP kinase activity is not a significant contributor to the H-Ras 12V effect. These data suggest that an additional Ras pathway, distinct from the well-characterized MAP kinase and Rac/Rho pathways known to be important for the transforming function of activated Ras, is primarily responsible for the inhibition of myogenesis by H-Ras 12V.
Mol Cell Biol 1997 Jul
PMID:Signaling through mitogen-activated protein kinase and Rac/Rho does not duplicate the effects of activated Ras on skeletal myogenesis. 919 90

The muscle LIM protein (MLP) is a muscle-specific LIM-only factor that exhibits a dual subcellular localization, being present in both the nucleus and in the cytoplasm. Overexpression of MLP in C2C12 myoblasts enhances skeletal myogenesis, whereas inhibition of MLP activity blocks terminal differentiation. Thus, MLP functions as a positive developmental regulator, although the mechanism through which MLP promotes terminal differentiation events remains unknown. While examining the distinct roles associated with the nuclear and cytoplasmic forms of MLP, we found that nuclear MLP functions through a physical interaction with the muscle basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors MyoD, MRF4, and myogenin. This interaction is highly specific since MLP does not associate with nonmuscle bHLH proteins E12 or E47 or with the myocyte enhancer factor-2 (MEF2) protein, which acts cooperatively with the myogenic bHLH proteins to promote myogenesis. The first LIM motif in MLP and the highly conserved bHLH region of MyoD are responsible for mediating the association between these muscle-specific factors. MLP also interacts with MyoD-E47 heterodimers, leading to an increase in the DNA-binding activity associated with this active bHLH complex. Although MLP lacks a functional transcription activation domain, we propose that it serves as a cofactor for the myogenic bHLH proteins by increasing their interaction with specific DNA regulatory elements. Thus, the functional complex of MLP-MyoD-E protein reveals a novel mechanism for both initiating and maintaining the myogenic program and suggests a global strategy for how LIM-only proteins may control a variety of developmental pathways.
Mol Cell Biol 1997 Aug
PMID:Muscle LIM protein promotes myogenesis by enhancing the activity of MyoD. 923 31

In vertebrates, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein Twist may be involved in the negative regulation of cellular determination and in the differentiation of several lineages, including myogenesis, osteogenesis, and neurogenesis. Although it has been shown that mouse twist (M-Twist) (i) sequesters E proteins, thus preventing formation of myogenic E protein-MyoD complexes and (ii) inhibits the MEF2 transcription factor, a cofactor of myogenic bHLH proteins, overexpression of E proteins and MEF2 failed to rescue the inhibitory effects of M-Twist on MyoD. We report here that M-Twist physically interacts with the myogenic bHLH proteins in vitro and in vivo and that this interaction is required for the inhibition of MyoD by M-Twist. In contrast to the conventional HLH-HLH domain interaction formed in the MyoD/E12 heterodimer, this novel type of interaction uses the basic domains of the two proteins. While the MyoD HLH domain without the basic domain failed to interact with M-Twist, a MyoD peptide containing only the basic and helix 1 regions was sufficient to interact with M-Twist, suggesting that the basic domain contacts M-Twist. The replacement of three arginine residues by alanines in the M-Twist basic domain was sufficient to abolish both the binding and inhibition of MyoD by M-Twist, while the domain retained other M-Twist functions such as heterodimerization with an E protein and inhibition of MEF2 transactivation. These findings demonstrate that M-Twist interacts with MyoD through the basic domains, thereby inhibiting MyoD.
Mol Cell Biol 1997 Nov
PMID:The basic domain of myogenic basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins is the novel target for direct inhibition by another bHLH protein, Twist. 934 20

In this report we show that extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1 and -2 (ERK-1 and -2) respond differently to signals that elicit proliferation and/or differentiation of myoblasts using the C2C12 cell line and nondifferentiating mutant NFB4 cells derived from them. Induction of differentiation by withdrawal of serum rendered ERKs in C2C12 myoblasts relatively insensitive to restimulation by serum. Instead, myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells was associated with sustained activation of ERK-2 dependent on the insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) autocrine loop. By contrast, mutant NFB4 cells cultured under the same conditions remained proliferative and demonstrated robust activation of ERKs in response to serum. Similarly, a Gi-dependent signaling pathway induced activation of ERKs in NFB4 cells, but not in C2C12 cells, after stimulation by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). In NFB4 cells partially rescued by prolonged IGF-I treatment, ERK activity remained responsive to Gi-dependent LPA stimulation, whereas rescue of NFB4 cells by constitutive expression of myogenin or MyoD, associated with activation of the IGF-II autocrine loop, rendered the Gi-signaling pathway refractory to LPA stimulation. Relatively high levels of G(alpha i2) were detected in NFB4 cells and IGF-I treated NFB4 cells, which correlated with responsive Gi signaling. Activation of the IGF-II autocrine loop in C2C12 and NFB4 myoblasts or treatment with IGF-II was associated with loss of G(alpha i2) and inhibition of Gi-dependent signaling. Thus, IGF-I and IGF-II activate distinct signaling cascades, with IGF-II eliciting a stronger differentiation effect correlated with down-regulation of G(alpha i2) protein. Short-term stimulation of NFB4 cells with IGF-I, a mitogenic signal for myoblasts, also induced ERK-1 and -2 activation. Transient stimulation of NFB4 cells with IGF-I while blocking activation of Gi-proteins is with pertussis toxin resulted in preferential activation of ERK-2 characteristic of differentiated C2C12 cells, suggesting that proliferation induced by IGF-I is Gi-dependent and separable from the IGF-I-signaling pathway that leads to differentiation.
Mol Endocrinol 1997 Dec
PMID:Extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1 and -2 respond differently to mitogenic and differentiative signaling pathways in myoblasts. 941 7

Establishment of skeletal muscle lineages is controlled by the MyoD family of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors. The ability of these factors to initiate myogenesis is dependent on two conserved amino acid residues, alanine and threonine, in the basic domains of these factors. It has been postulated that these two residues may be responsible for the initiation of myogenesis via interaction with an essential myogenic cofactor. The myogenic bHLH proteins cooperatively activate transcription and myogenesis through protein-protein interactions with members of the myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF2) family of MADS domain transcription factors. MyoD-E12 heterodimers interact with MEF2 proteins to synergistically activate myogenesis, while homodimers of E12, which lack the conserved alanine and threonine residues in the basic domain, do not interact with MEF2. We have examined whether the myogenic alanine and threonine in the MyoD basic region are required for interaction with MEF2. Here, we show that substitution of the MyoD basic domain with that of E12 does not prevent interaction with MEF2. Instead, the inability of alanine-threonine mutants of MyoD to initiate myogenesis is due to a failure to transmit transcriptional activation signals provided either from the MyoD or the MEF2 activation domain. This defect in transcriptional transmission can be overcome by substitution of the MyoD or the MEF2 activation domain with the VP16 activation domain. These results demonstrate that myogenic bHLH-MEF2 interaction can be uncoupled from transcriptional activation and support the idea that the myogenic residues in myogenic bHLH proteins are essential for transmission of a transcriptional activation signal.
Mol Cell Biol 1998 Jan
PMID:Multiple roles for the MyoD basic region in transmission of transcriptional activation signals and interaction with MEF2. 941 54

The Rho family GTP-binding proteins play a critical role in a variety of cytoskeleton-dependent cell functions. In this study, we examined the role of Rho family G proteins in muscle differentiation. Dominant negative forms of Rho family proteins and RhoGDI, a GDP dissociation inhibitor, suppressed transcription of muscle-specific genes, while mutationally activated forms of Rho family proteins strongly activated their transcription. C2C12 cells overexpressing RhoGDI (C2C12RhoGDI cells) did not differentiate into myotubes, and expression levels of myogenin, MRF4, and contractile protein genes but not MyoD and myf5 genes were markedly reduced in C2C12RhoGDI cells. The promoter activity of the myogenin gene was suppressed by dominant negative mutants of Rho family proteins and was reduced in C2C12RhoGDI cells. Expression of myocyte enhancer binding factor 2 (MEF2), which has been reported to be required for the expression of the myogenin gene, was reduced at the mRNA and protein levels in C2C12RhoGDI cells. These results suggest that the Rho family proteins play a critical role in muscle differentiation, possibly by regulating the expression of the myogenin and MEF2 genes.
Mol Cell Biol 1998 Mar
PMID:The Rho family G proteins play a critical role in muscle differentiation. 948 75

Cardiomyocyte terminal differentiation was examined by studying the interaction of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) family members with E2F during the developmental transition from 17-day fetal to 2-day neonatal. Additionally, the expression pattern of cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and CDK inhibitors responsible for modulating the phosphorylation of pRb were studied. p107, pRb, and p130 are regulators of cellular proliferation, differentiation, and cell cycle exit and entry, respectively. The active, underphosphorylated form of these proteins targets the E2F family of transcriptional factors that play a critical role in the control of genes associated with DNA synthesis. Electromobility shift analyses demonstrated E2F complexed with p107 in proliferating fetal cardiomyocytes, whereas in 2-day neonatal cells, E2F was principally associated with p130 and a low level of pRb. At the 2-day neonatal stage, decreased protein levels were observed for cyclins D2, D3, and E, and CDK2 and CDK4. No changes were observed in the mRNA levels of the D-cyclins in neonatal cells; however, the transcripts for cyclins A and E and CDK4 were diminished. In skeletal myoblasts, differentiation is associated with induction of p21, a CDK inhibitor, by a MyoD-dependent pathway. Although heart cells lack MyoD, CDK assays demonstrated that the activity of CDKs 2, 4, and 6 were downregulated in 2-day neonatal cells, and CDC2 was increased. RT-PCR indicated that p21 mRNA was induced 1.4-, 2.0-, and 3.1-fold in the 2-day neonatal, 7-day neonatal, and adult stages, respectively, compared to the 17-day fetal stage. At the protein level, p21 also increased at the 2-day neonatal stage. Kinase inhibitory immunodepletion assays showed that CDK inhibitory activity was markedly increased in the 2-day neonate. Although mRNA levels of the p27 CDK inhibitor were unchanged, its protein level and inhibitory effect on CDK2 and CDK4 were increased. Thus, cardiomyocytes retain the capacity to proliferate until the early neonatal period when a series of changes occur, including a switch in pRb partners, a decrease in CDK levels and induction of CDK inhibitory activity, which is associated with terminal differentiation.
J Mol Cell Cardiol 1998 Mar
PMID:Changes in E2F complexes containing retinoblastoma protein family members and increased cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor activities during terminal differentiation of cardiomyocytes. 951 32

The signal transduction mechanism coupled to angiotensin AT2 receptors is still a matter of debate. Based on the findings that AT2 receptor stimulation causes inhibition of proliferation, and that other antiproliferative agents such as transforming growth factor-beta, retinoic acid, and MyoD act via repression of immediate early gene (IEG) expression, this study was aimed at elucidating whether downregulation of IEG expression is also part of the AT2 receptor coupled signaling mechanism. Stimulation of angiotensin AT2 receptors in the rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12 W following pretreatment with growth factors was able to counteract growth factor induced proliferation but not to repress growth factor induced c-fos and c-jun expression; neither did AT2 receptor stimulation cause an induction of c-fos expression. We conclude that, in contrast to other growth-inhibiting agents, the antiproliferative effect of angiotensin II via the AT2 receptor is not mediated by repression of the immediate early genes c-fos and c-jun.
J Mol Med (Berl) 1998 Mar
PMID:Repression of c-fos and c-jun gene expression is not part of AT2 receptor coupled signal transduction. 953 47

Malignant rhabdoid tumors (MRT) are characterized by unique neoplastic cells demonstrating phenotypic diversity. By using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, we have detected expression of various genes before and after differentiation induction with four different agents in four established MRT cell lines (TM87-16, STM91-01, TTC642, and TTC549). The agents used in this study were all-trans retinoic acid (RA), 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), interleukin-3, or interferon-gamma. Before and after induction, c-myc, IGF-II, IGF-I receptor, and IGF-II receptor were constitutively expressed by all four cell lines. The neurofilament medium-size (NF-M) was constitutively expressed by the TM87-16 and TTC642, and the S100 protein alpha subunit was expressed by TM87-16, TTC642, and TTC549. Chromogranin A was expressed by TM87-16 only after treatment with either TPA or RA. MyoD, N-myc, tyrosine hydroxylase, N-CAM, trkA, and the S100 protein beta subunit were not expressed by any cell line before or after induction with these agents. All the MRT cell lines in this study except TM87-16 were highly resistant to differentiation induction. The proliferating cells in TM87-16 and TTC642 expressed mRNA profiles characteristic of neuroectoderm.
Diagn Mol Pathol 1997 Dec
PMID:Gene expression of malignant rhabdoid tumor cell lines by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. 955 92

Development of the infective L1 larva of Trichinella spiralis occurs as an intracellular parasite of skeletal muscle and leads to the dedifferentiation of the host cell. A novel Trichinella gene, tsJ5, has been identified from a cDNA library screen for sequences encoding Trichinella proteins related to the myogenic bHLH factors. The tsJ5 gene is developmentally regulated, showing preferential expression in the infective muscle stage larva. The product of the tsJ5 gene is not a bHLH protein but represents a novel protein with properties in common with some myogenic repressors. A recombinant TsJ5 protein affects the formation of MyoD:DNA complexes in vitro.
Mol Biochem Parasitol 1998 Apr 01
PMID:Identification of a developmentally regulated Trichinella spiralis protein that inhibits MyoD-specific protein: DNA complexes in vitro. 957 19


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