CGC Bibliography Paper 5047

Disparate cell types use a shared complex of PDZ proteins for polarized protein localization.

Rongo C

Medline:

11544104

Citation:

Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews 12: 349-359 2001

Type:

REVIEW

Genes:

glr-1 let-23 let-60 lin-2 lin-3 lin-7 lin-10

Abstract:

Based on their morphology and function, epithelial cells and neurons appear to have very little in common; however, growing evidence suggests that these two disparate cell types share an underlying polarization pathway responsible for sorting proteins to specific subcellular sites. An evolutionarily conserved complex of PDZ domain-containing proteins thought to be responsible for polarized protein localization has been identified from both brain and epithelial tissue, both from mammals and from the nematode C. elegans. Some of th most recent data on PDZ proteins and the proteins with which they interact are summarized. In particular, some of the more recently proposed models for their function in cells, and the in vivo and in vitro data that support these models are focused upon.