title: Protein modules as organizers of membrane structure.
abstract: Investigations conducted over the past 18 months have shed new light on how modular protein-binding domains, in particular PDZ domains, co-ordinate the assembly of functional plasma membrane domains. Members of the MAGUK (membrane-associated guanylate kinase) protein family, like PSD-95, use multiple domains to cluster ion channels, receptors, adhesion molecules and cytosolic signaling proteins at synapses, cellular junctions, and polarized membrane domains. Other PDZ proteins, like the Drosophila protein INAD and the epithelial Na(+)/H(+) regulatory factor (NHERF), organize cellular signaling by localizing transmembrane and cytosolic components to specific membrane domains and assembling these components into functional complexes. The organization of these proteins into discreet structures has functional consequences for downstream signaling.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine and Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, PO Box 208019, New Haven, CT 06520-8019, USA. alan.fanning@yale.edu
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Fanning
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007365:Intercellular Junctions / Q000378:metabolism; D007473:Ion Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D017923:Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D017923:Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers; C091568:inaD protein, Drosophila; C093376:sodium-hydrogen exchanger regulatory factor