title: Michelob_x is the missing inhibitor of apoptosis protein antagonist in mosquito genomes.
abstract: Apoptosis is implicated in the life cycle of the malaria parasite in mosquitoes. The genome project for the primary malaria vector Anopheles gambiae showed a significant expansion of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) and caspase gene families in comparison with Drosophila. However, because of extensive sequence divergence, no orthologue was identified for the reaper/grim-like IAP antagonist genes that have a pivotal role in cell death regulation in Drosophila. Using a customized searching strategy, we identified michelob_x(mx), a gene not predicted by the genome project, as the missing IAP antagonist in the An. gambiae and other mosquito genomes. Mx has a highly conserved amino-terminal IAP-binding motif. Expression of Mx induces rapid cell death in insect cell lines and is a potent tissue ablator in vivo. Its proapoptotic activity is totally dependent on the IAP-binding motif. Like reaper in Drosophila, mx is transcriptionally induced by ultraviolet irradiation to mediate cell death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32610, USA.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Carl P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Severson
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes; D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D017209:Apoptosis; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019295:Computational Biology; D004330:Drosophila; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D017344:Genes, Insect; D016678:Genome; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D034622:RNA Interference; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000737:chemistry; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013997:Time Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D012313:RNA