title: Phosphorylation of the Drosophila adherens junction protein Armadillo: roles for wingless signal and zeste-white 3 kinase.
abstract: The Drosophila segment polarity gene product Armadillo provides a link between two seemingly separate processes, regulation of segmental pattern by the Wingless intercellular signal and the function of cell-cell adherens junctions. armadillo was originally identified because of its segment polarity phenotype but subsequently was found to be the homolog of the vertebrate adherens junction protein beta-catenin. We examined the nature of the post-translational modification of Armadillo and its possible role in regulating Armadillo function. Armadillo is a phosphoprotein. Its level of phosphorylation varies both during embryonic development and from tissue to tissue. Phosphorylation occurs on both serine or threonine and tyrosine residues. Finally, Wingless signal negatively regulates Armadillo phosphorylation, while the segment polarity gene product Zeste-white 3, a serine/threonine protein kinase, promotes Armadillo phosphorylation. We discuss the implications of these results for regulation of Wingless/Wnt-1 signaling and adherens junction function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peifer
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Pai
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casey
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051186:Armadillo Domain Proteins; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010768:Phosphoserine / Q000378:metabolism; D019000:Phosphotyrosine; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D051155:Wnt1 Protein
chemical_list: C495305:ARM protein, Drosophila; D051186:Armadillo Domain Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; C074622:wg protein, Drosophila; D010768:Phosphoserine; D019000:Phosphotyrosine; D014443:Tyrosine; D011494:Protein Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; C080335:Sgg protein, Drosophila; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3