Protein LIN-14 | |||||||
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Identifiers | |||||||
Organism | |||||||
Symbol | lin-14 | ||||||
Entrez | 181337 | ||||||
RefSeq (mRNA) | NM_077515.5 | ||||||
RefSeq (Prot) | NP_509916.2 | ||||||
UniProt | Q21446 | ||||||
Other data | |||||||
Chromosome | X: 11.46 - 11.49 Mb | ||||||
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LIN-14 is a nuclear protein that plays a crucial role in regulating developmental timing in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans . [1] [2] It functions as a heterochronic gene, controlling the timing of developmental events during larval development. [2] LIN-14 protein levels are high at the beginning of the first larval stage (L1) and then rapidly decline, which is essential for the transition from early to late cell fates. [2] LIN-14 is a BEN domain transcription factor, capable of binding DNA and directly regulating gene expression. [3] The protein's activity is tightly regulated by lin-4, a microRNA which inhibits LIN-14 protein synthesis through complementary base pairing with sequences in the lin-14 mRNA 3' untranslated region. [4]
The expression of the Lin-14 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans is tightly regulated by the Lin-4 gene through a microRNA-mediated mechanism. Lin-4 produces small RNAs that act as negative regulators of Lin-14 protein synthesis. [5] These Lin-4 microRNAs bind to complementary sequences in the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of the Lin-14 mRNA, forming multiple RNA duplexes. [6] This interaction leads to a post-transcriptional regulation of Lin-14 translation, resulting in a decrease over time of LIN-14 protein levels starting in the first larval stage (L1). [5] [7]
This work on microRNA-mediated gene regulation, including the discovery of the Lin-4/Lin-14 regulatory mechanism, was recognized with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun "...for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation." [8] Their work on the lin-4 microRNA and its regulation of the Lin-14 protein dates back to the late 1980s and early 1990s. [9] [6]
Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek caeno- (recent), rhabditis (rod-like) and Latin elegans (elegant). In 1900, Maupas initially named it Rhabditides elegans. Osche placed it in the subgenus Caenorhabditis in 1952, and in 1955, Dougherty raised Caenorhabditis to the status of genus.
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Howard Robert Horvitz ForMemRS NAS AAA&S APS NAM is an American biologist whose research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston, whose "seminal discoveries concerning the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death" were "important for medical research and have shed new light on the pathogenesis of many diseases".
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