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Transient receptor potential channels are a group of ion channels located mostly on the plasma membrane of numerous animal cell types. Most of these are grouped into two broad groups: Group 1 includes TRPC, TRPV, TRPVL, TRPM, TRPS, TRPN, and TRPA. Group 2 consists of TRPP and TRPML. Other less-well categorized TRP channels exist, including yeast channels and a number of Group 1 and Group 2 channels present in non-animals. Many of these channels mediate a variety of sensations such as pain, temperature, different kinds of tastes, pressure, and vision. In the body, some TRP channels are thought to behave like microscopic thermometers and used in animals to sense hot or cold. Some TRP channels are activated by molecules found in spices like garlic (allicin), chili pepper (capsaicin), wasabi ; others are activated by menthol, camphor, peppermint, and cooling agents; yet others are activated by molecules found in cannabis or stevia. Some act as sensors of osmotic pressure, volume, stretch, and vibration. Most of the channels are activated or inhibited by signaling lipids and contribute to a family of lipid-gated ion channels.
The Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved cell signaling system present in most animals. Mammals possess four different notch receptors, referred to as NOTCH1, NOTCH2, NOTCH3, and NOTCH4. The notch receptor is a single-pass transmembrane receptor protein. It is a hetero-oligomer composed of a large extracellular portion, which associates in a calcium-dependent, non-covalent interaction with a smaller piece of the notch protein composed of a short extracellular region, a single transmembrane-pass, and a small intracellular region.
The Hedgehog signaling pathway is a signaling pathway that transmits information to embryonic cells required for proper cell differentiation. Different parts of the embryo have different concentrations of hedgehog signaling proteins. The pathway also has roles in the adult. Diseases associated with the malfunction of this pathway include cancer.
Innexins are transmembrane proteins that form gap junctions in invertebrates. Gap junctions are composed of membrane proteins that form a channel permeable to ions and small molecules connecting the cytoplasm of adjacent cells. Although gap junctions provide similar functions in all multicellular organisms, it was not known what proteins invertebrates used for this purpose until the late 1990s. While the connexin family of gap junction proteins was well-characterized in vertebrates, no homologues were found in non-chordates.
Decapentaplegic (Dpp) is a key morphogen involved in the development of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and is the first validated secreted morphogen. It is known to be necessary for the correct patterning and development of the early Drosophila embryo and the fifteen imaginal discs, which are tissues that will become limbs and other organs and structures in the adult fly. It has also been suggested that Dpp plays a role in regulating the growth and size of tissues. Flies with mutations in decapentaplegic fail to form these structures correctly, hence the name. Dpp is the Drosophila homolog of the vertebrate bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which are members of the TGF-β superfamily, a class of proteins that are often associated with their own specific signaling pathway. Studies of Dpp in Drosophila have led to greater understanding of the function and importance of their homologs in vertebrates like humans.
Tenascins are extracellular matrix glycoproteins. They are abundant in the extracellular matrix of developing vertebrate embryos and they reappear around healing wounds and in the stroma of some tumors.
Protocadherins (Pcdhs) are the largest mammalian subgroup of the cadherin superfamily of homophilic cell-adhesion proteins. They were discovered by Shintaro Suzuki's group, when they used PCR to find new members of the cadherin family. The PCR fragments that corresponded to protocadherins were found in vertebrate and invertebrate species. This prevalence in a wide range of species suggested that the fragments were part of an ancient cadherin and were thus termed "Protocadherins" as the "first cadherins". Of the approximately 70 Pcdh genes identified in mammalian genomes, over 50 are located in tightly linked gene clusters on the same chromosome. Until recently, it was assumed that this kind of organization can only be found in vertebrates, but Octopus bimaculoides has 168 genes of which nearly three-quarters are found in tandem clusters with the two largest clusters compromising 31 and 17 genes, respectively.
Frizzled is a family of atypical G protein-coupled receptors that serve as receptors in the Wnt signaling pathway and other signaling pathways. When activated, Frizzled leads to activation of Dishevelled in the cytosol.
In the field of molecular biology, myocyte enhancer factor-2 (Mef2) proteins are a family of transcription factors which through control of gene expression are important regulators of cellular differentiation and consequently play a critical role in embryonic development. In adult organisms, Mef2 proteins mediate the stress response in some tissues. Mef2 proteins contain both MADS-box and Mef2 DNA-binding domains.
Neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 1(Notch 1) is a protein encoded in humans by the NOTCH1 gene. Notch 1 is a single-pass transmembrane receptor.
Tenascin C (TN-C) is a glycoprotein that in humans is encoded by the TNC gene. It is expressed in the extracellular matrix of various tissues during development, disease or injury, and in restricted neurogenic areas of the central nervous system. Tenascin-C is the founding member of the tenascin protein family. In the embryo it is made by migrating cells like the neural crest; it is also abundant in developing tendons, bone and cartilage.
Receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase F is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTPRF gene.
Transcription factor HES1 is a protein that is encoded by the Hes1 gene, and is the mammalian homolog of the hairy gene in Drosophila. HES1 is one of the seven members of the Hes gene family (HES1-7). Hes genes code nuclear proteins that suppress transcription.
MHC class II regulatory factor RFX1 is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the RFX1 gene located on the short arm of chromosome 19.
Receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase T is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTPRT gene.
Notch proteins are a family of type-1 transmembrane proteins that form a core component of the Notch signaling pathway, which is highly conserved in metazoans. The Notch extracellular domain mediates interactions with DSL family ligands, allowing it to participate in juxtacrine signaling. The Notch intracellular domain acts as a transcriptional activator when in complex with CSL family transcription factors. Members of this Type 1 transmembrane protein family share several core structures, including an extracellular domain consisting of multiple epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats and an intracellular domain transcriptional activation domain (TAD). Notch family members operate in a variety of different tissues and play a role in a variety of developmental processes by controlling cell fate decisions. Much of what is known about Notch function comes from studies done in Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans) and Drosophila melanogaster. Human homologs have also been identified, but details of Notch function and interactions with its ligands are not well known in this context.
Vasa is an RNA binding protein with an ATP-dependent RNA helicase that is a member of the DEAD box family of proteins. The vasa gene is essential for germ cell development and was first identified in Drosophila melanogaster, but has since been found to be conserved in a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates including humans. The Vasa protein is found primarily in germ cells in embryos and adults, where it is involved in germ cell determination and function, as well as in multipotent stem cells, where its exact function is unknown.
Teneurin-3, also known as Ten-m3, Odz3, Ten-m/Odz3, Tenascin-like molecule major 3 or Teneurin transmembrane protein 3, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the TENM3, or ODZ3, gene. Ten-m3 is a ~300 kDa type II transmembrane glycoprotein that is a member of the teneurin/Ten-m/Odz family. The teneurin family currently consists of four members: Ten-m1-Ten-m4. Ten-ms are conserved across both vertebrate and invertebrate species. They are expressed in distinct, but often interconnected, areas of the developing nervous system and in some non-neural tissues. Like the Ten-m family, Ten-m3 plays a critical role in regulating connectivity of the nervous system, particularly in axon pathfinding and synaptic organisation in the motor and visual system. Mutation in the TENM3/ODZ3 gene in humans has been associated with the eye condition, microphthalmia.
Methuselah-like 5 is a protein that in Drosophila is encoded by the Mthl5 gene.
Ruth Chiquet-Ehrismann was a Swiss biochemist and cell biologist working on interactions in the extracellular matrix.
References
- ↑ Tucker RP, Chiquet-Ehrismann R, Chevron MP, Martin D, Hall RJ, Rubin BP (January 2001). "Teneurin-2 is expressed in tissues that regulate limb and somite pattern formation and is induced in vitro and in situ by FGF8". Dev. Dyn. 220 (1): 27–39. doi: 10.1002/1097-0177(2000)9999:9999<::AID-DVDY1084>3.0.CO;2-B . PMID 11146505.
- ↑ Drabikowski, Krzysztof; Trzebiatowska, Agnieszka; Chiquet-Ehrismann, Ruth (2005-06-01). "ten-1, an essential gene for germ cell development, epidermal morphogenesis, gonad migration, and neuronal pathfinding in Caenorhabditis elegans". Developmental Biology. 282 (1): 27–38. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.02.017 . ISSN 0012-1606. PMID 15936327.
- ↑ Young TR, Leamey CA (2009). "Teneurins: important regulators of neural circuitry". Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 41 (5): 990–3. doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2008.06.014. PMID 18723111.
- ↑ Antinucci P, Nikolaou N, Meyer MP, Hindges R (2013). "Teneurin-3 specifies morphological and functional connectivity of retinal ganglion cells in the vertebrate visual system". Cell Rep. 5 (3): 582–92. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2013.09.045. PMC 3898612 . PMID 24183672.
- ↑ Minet AD, Rubin BP, Tucker RP, Baumgartner S, Chiquet-Ehrismann R (June 1999). "Teneurin-1, a vertebrate homologue of the Drosophila pair-rule gene ten-m, is a neuronal protein with a novel type of heparin-binding domain". J. Cell Sci. 112 (12): 2019–32. PMID 10341219.
- ↑ Bagutti C, Forro G, Ferralli J, Rubin B, Chiquet-Ehrismann R (July 2003). "The intracellular domain of teneurin-2 has a nuclear function and represses zic-1-mediated transcription". J. Cell Sci. 116 (Pt 14): 2957–66. doi: 10.1242/jcs.00603 . PMID 12783990.
- ↑ Tucker RP, Chiquet-Ehrismann R (February 2006). "Teneurins: a conserved family of transmembrane proteins involved in intercellular signaling during development". Dev. Biol. 290 (2): 237–45. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.11.038 . PMID 16406038.
- ↑ Tucker RP, Kenzelmann D, Trzebiatowska A, Chiquet-Ehrismann R (2007). "Teneurins: transmembrane proteins with fundamental roles in development". Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 39 (2): 292–7. doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2006.09.012. PMID 17095284.
- ↑ Kenzelmann D, Chiquet-Ehrismann R, Tucker RP (June 2007). "Teneurins, a transmembrane protein family involved in cell communication during neuronal development" (PDF). Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 64 (12): 1452–6. doi:10.1007/s00018-007-7108-9. PMID 17502993. S2CID 1314540.