title: Isolation and characterization of human NBL4, a gene involved in the beta-catenin/tcf signaling pathway.
abstract: beta-Catenin, a key regulator of cellular proliferation, is often mutated in various types of human cancer. To investigate cellular responses related to the beta-catenin signaling pathway, we applied a differential display method using mouse cells transfected with an activated form of mutant beta-catenin. This analysis and subsequent northern-blot hybridization confirmed that expression of a murine gene encoding NBL4 (novel band 4.1-like protein 4) was up-regulated by activation of beta-catenin. To examine a possible role of NBL4 in cancer, we isolated the human homologue of the murine NBL4 gene by matching mNBL4 against the human EST (expressed sequence tag) database followed by 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5'RACE). The cDNA of hNBL4 encoded a protein of 598 amino acids that shared 87% identity in amino acid sequence with murine NBL4 and 71% with zebrafish NBL4. A 2.2-kb hNBL4 transcript was expressed in all human tissues examined with high levels of expression in brain, liver, thymus and peripheral blood leukocytes and low levels of expression in heart, kidney, testis and colon. We determined its chromosomal localization at 5q22 by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Expression of hNBL4 was significantly reduced when beta-catenin was depleted in SW480 cells, a human cancer cell line that constitutionally accumulates beta-catenin. The results support the view that NBL4 is an important component of the beta-catenin / Tcf pathway and is probably related to determination of cell polarity or proliferation.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Human Genome Center, Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishiguro
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Daigo
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishiwaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawasoe
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miwa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002895:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007739:L Cells; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection; D015027:Zebrafish; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; C495267:CTNNB1 protein, mouse; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051821:Lymphoid Enhancer-Binding Factor 1; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin; C495269:ctnnb1 protein, zebrafish; C112128:epb41l4a protein, zebrafish