First published online January 12, 2006
Journal of Cell Science 119, 205e (2006)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Disorienting mutation in RNA-binding protein
Dictyostelium discoideum is proving a surprisingly useful model organism in which to investigate the human autosomal disorder Schwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome (SBDS). One characteristic of this multisystem disorder is susceptibility to infections. Recent work has indicated that white blood cells from patients with SBDS, most of whom have mutations in the SBDS gene, cannot orient correctly in spatial gradients of chemoattractant. Now David Soll and co-workers identify the Dictyostelium ortholog of the SBDS gene and show that the protein it encodes, in common with several key proteins involved in chemotactic orientation, localizes to the pseudopods of Dictyostelium amoebae during chemotaxis but not during random movement (see p. 370). SBDS encodes a protein of unknown function but previous structural, mutational and biochemical studies suggest it has a role in RNA metabolism. The authors speculate, therefore, that SBDS might translocate the molecules that regulate chemotaxis from the nucleus to the pseudopod, where they function.
Related articles in JCS:
- The Shwachman-Bodian-Diamond syndrome gene encodes an RNA-binding protein that localizes to the pseudopod of Dictyostelium amoebae during chemotaxis
- Deborah Wessels, Thyagarajan Srikantha, Song Yi, Spencer Kuhl, L. Aravind, and David R. Soll
JCS 2006 119: 370-379.
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