title: RNT-1, the C. elegans homologue of mammalian RUNX transcription factors, regulates body size and male tail development.
abstract: The rnt-1 gene is the only Caenorhabditis elegans homologue of the mammalian RUNX genes. Several lines of molecular biological evidence have demonstrated that the RUNX proteins interact and cooperate with Smads, which are transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signal mediators. However, the involvement of RUNX in TGF-beta signaling has not yet been supported by any genetic evidence. The Sma/Mab TGF-beta signaling pathway in C. elegans is known to regulate body length and male tail development. The rnt-1(ok351) mutants show the characteristic phenotypes observed in mutants of the Sma/Mab pathway, namely, they have a small body size and ray defects. Moreover, RNT-1 can physically interact with SMA-4 which is one of the Smads in C. elegans, and double mutant animals containing both the rnt-1(ok351) mutation and a mutation in a known Sma/Mab pathway gene displayed synergism in the aberrant phenotypes. In addition, lon-1(e185) mutants was epistatic to rnt-1(ok351) mutants in terms of long phenotype, suggesting that lon-1 is indeed downstream target of rnt-1. Our data reveal that RNT-1 functionally cooperates with the SMA-4 proteins to regulate body size and male tail development in C. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju 500-712, Korea.
authors.forename: Yon-Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Seunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Yun-Hye
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Kyeong-Sook
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyu-Yeong
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hyun-Ok
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Junho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Suk-Chul
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Joohong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahnn
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013623:Tail / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C493287:RNT-1 protein, C elegans; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; C097875:sma-4 protein, C elegans