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Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans
The process by which mechanical stimuli are converted into cellular responses is poorly understood, in part because key molecules in this mode of signal transduction, the mechanically gated ion channels, have eluded cloning efforts. The Caenorhabditis elegans mec-4 gene encodes a subunit of a candid...
Formato: | Texto |
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Lenguaje: | English |
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The Rockefeller University Press
1996
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2120861/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8655580 |
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collection | PubMed |
description | The process by which mechanical stimuli are converted into cellular responses is poorly understood, in part because key molecules in this mode of signal transduction, the mechanically gated ion channels, have eluded cloning efforts. The Caenorhabditis elegans mec-4 gene encodes a subunit of a candidate mechanosensitive ion channel that plays a critical role in touch reception. Comparative sequence analysis of C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae mec-4 genes was used to initiate molecular studies that establish MEC-4 as a 768-amino acid protein that includes two hydrophobic domains theoretically capable of spanning a lipid bilayer. Immunoprecipitation of in vitro translated mec-4 protein with domain-specific anti-MEC-4 antibodies and in vivo characterization of a series of mec-4lacZ fusion proteins both support the hypothesis that MEC-4 crosses the membrane twice. The MEC-4 amino- and carboxy- terminal domains are situated in the cytoplasm and a large domain, which includes three Cys-rich regions, is extracellular. Definition of transmembrane topology defines regions that might interact with the extracellular matrix or cytoskeleton to mediate mechanical signaling. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-2120861 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 1996 |
publisher | The Rockefeller University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-21208612008-05-01 Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans J Cell Biol Articles The process by which mechanical stimuli are converted into cellular responses is poorly understood, in part because key molecules in this mode of signal transduction, the mechanically gated ion channels, have eluded cloning efforts. The Caenorhabditis elegans mec-4 gene encodes a subunit of a candidate mechanosensitive ion channel that plays a critical role in touch reception. Comparative sequence analysis of C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae mec-4 genes was used to initiate molecular studies that establish MEC-4 as a 768-amino acid protein that includes two hydrophobic domains theoretically capable of spanning a lipid bilayer. Immunoprecipitation of in vitro translated mec-4 protein with domain-specific anti-MEC-4 antibodies and in vivo characterization of a series of mec-4lacZ fusion proteins both support the hypothesis that MEC-4 crosses the membrane twice. The MEC-4 amino- and carboxy- terminal domains are situated in the cytoplasm and a large domain, which includes three Cys-rich regions, is extracellular. Definition of transmembrane topology defines regions that might interact with the extracellular matrix or cytoskeleton to mediate mechanical signaling. The Rockefeller University Press 1996-06-01 /pmc/articles/PMC2120861/ /pubmed/8655580 Text en This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Articles Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title | Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title_full | Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title_fullStr | Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title_full_unstemmed | Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title_short | Sequence and transmembrane topology of MEC-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in Caenorhabditis elegans |
title_sort | sequence and transmembrane topology of mec-4, an ion channel subunit required for mechanotransduction in caenorhabditis elegans |
topic | Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2120861/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8655580 |