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PMID: 8622655 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Regulated nuclear import of the Drosophila rel protein dorsal: structure-function analysis.

Molecular and cellular biology ·Vol. 16 ·No. 3 ·1996-03-00 ·Pages 1103-14

Govind S, Drier E, Huang LH, Steward R

Abstract

The formation of a gradient of nuclear Dorsal protein in the early Drosophila embryo is the last step in a maternally encoded dorsal-ventral signal transduction pathway. This gradient is formed in response to a ventral signal, which leads to the dissociation of cytoplasmic Dorsal from the I kappa B homolog Cactus. Free Dorsal is then targeted to the nucleus. Dorsal is a Rel-family transcription factor. Signal-dependent nuclear localization characterizes the regulation of Rel proteins. In order to identify regions of Dorsal that are essential for its homodimerization, nuclear targeting, and interaction with Cactus, we have performed an in vivo structure-function analysis. Our results show that all these functions are carried out by regions within the conserved Rel-homology region of Dorsal. The C-terminal divergent half of Dorsal is dispensable for its selective nuclear import. A basic stretch of 6 amino acids at the C terminus of the Rel-homology region is necessary for nuclear localization. This nuclear localization signal is not required for Cactus binding. Removal of the N-terminal 40 amino acids abolished the nuclear import of Dorsal, uncovering a potentially novel function for this highly conserved region.

MeSH Terms
Animals Base Sequence Drosophila/embryology,metabolism Drosophila Proteins Molecular Sequence Data Nuclear Proteins/genetics,metabolism Phosphoproteins/genetics,metabolism Protein Conformation Sequence Analysis Structure-Activity Relationship Transcription Factors/metabolism
Chemicals
Drosophila Proteins Nuclear Proteins Phosphoproteins Transcription Factors dl protein, Drosophila
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Govind S
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Drier E
Huang L H
Steward R
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53 references, click to expand
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Article Info
Journal
Molecular and cellular biology
Abbr.
Mol Cell Biol
ISSN
0270-7306
DOI
10.1128/MCB.16.3.1103
Published
1996-03-00
Pages
1103-14
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
8109087
PMCID
PMC231093
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/MCB.16.3.1103 PMC Full Text View journal details
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