title: Cloning and developmental expression of MARK/Par-1/MELK-related protein kinase xMAK-V in Xenopus laevis.
abstract: MAK-V/Hunk is a recently identified MARK/Par-1-related mammalian protein kinase. Although the precise function of this protein kinase is yet to be established, available data suggest its involvement in animals' development and in the physiology of the nervous system. Here we report characterization of a cDNA encoding Xenopus laevis orthologue of MAK-V/Hunk protein kinase, xMAK-V. The in silico analysis also revealed MAK-V/Hunk orthologues in the fish Fugu rubripes and primitive chordate Ciona intestinalis but not in invertebrate species such as Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, suggesting that MAK-V/Hunk is a chordate-specific protein kinase. The expression of xmak-v in X. laevis embryos was analyzed using whole-mount in situ hybridization. Expression of xmak-v has been detected in all developmental stages studied including maternal expression in unfertilized eggs. The xmak-v mRNA has a predominant occurrence on the animal hemisphere of the egg, and this pattern of expression is sustained throughout cleavage and blastula stages. At the gastrula stage xmak-v expression is restricted to the ectoderm. In the later stage embryos xmak-v is expressed over the entire embryonic surface including the open neural plate at stage 15 and also in neural tube at stage 22. At tadpole stage xmak-v expression is strong in embryonic epidermis, nervous system and sensory organs, and is also obvious in perisomitic mesoderm and brachial arches.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 34/5 Vavilov Street, 119334 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexey S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ruzov
authors.forename: Ilya B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Mertsalov
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meehan
authors.forename: Sergey L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kiselev
authors.forename: Vladimir L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Buchman
authors.forename: Igor V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Korobko
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; C417729:Hunk protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases