Abstract
The gene strabismus (stbm)/Van Gogh (Vang) functions in the planar cell-polarity pathway in Drosophila. As the existence of such a pathway in vertebrates has not been firmly established, we investigated the functions and signalling activities encoded by stbm in vertebrate embryos. In regard to cell fate, inhibition of Stbm function in zebrafish embryos leads to reduction of anterior neural markers, whereas gain of function leads to a rise in the levels of these markers. In regard to cell behaviour, both gain-of-function and loss-of-function assays reveal a role for Stbm in mediating cell movements during gastrulation. Mechanistically, Stbm inhibits Wnt-mediated activation of beta-catenin-dependent transcription while promoting phosphorylation of c-Jun- and AP-1-dependent transcription. This complex effect on intracellular signalling pathways probably involves dishevelled (dsh), as Stbm was found to interact with the Dsh protein, and as Dsh is known to function in both planar cell-polarity and beta-catenin pathways in Drosophila.
MeSH terms
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Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Cell Movement / genetics*
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Cell Polarity / genetics*
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / physiology
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Dishevelled Proteins
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Drosophila
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Drosophila Proteins*
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Embryo, Nonmammalian / cytology
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Embryo, Nonmammalian / physiology
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Gastrula / cytology
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Gastrula / physiology
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Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / physiology
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Membrane Proteins / genetics*
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Membrane Proteins / physiology
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Mice
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Phosphoproteins / physiology
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Sequence Alignment
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Signal Transduction
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Trans-Activators*
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Xenopus / embryology*
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Xenopus / genetics
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Xenopus Proteins*
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Zebrafish / embryology*
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Zebrafish / genetics
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Zebrafish Proteins*
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beta Catenin
Substances
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Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
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CTNNB1 protein, Xenopus
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CTNNB1 protein, mouse
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Cytoskeletal Proteins
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DVL1 protein, Xenopus
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Dishevelled Proteins
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Drosophila Proteins
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Membrane Proteins
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Phosphoproteins
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Trans-Activators
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Vang protein, Drosophila
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Vangl2 protein, Xenopus
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Xenopus Proteins
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Zebrafish Proteins
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beta Catenin
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ctnnb1 protein, zebrafish
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dsh protein, Drosophila
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vangl2 protein, zebrafish