title: Molecular characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans ALP/Enigma gene alp-1.
abstract: Members of the ALP/Enigma family of PDZ-LIM proteins play a role in cytoskeletal anchorage and mutations in at least one member of this family are associated with human cardiomyopathy. Here, we describe the analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans alp-1 gene. alp-1 is predicted to encode the entire nematode ALP/Enigma protein family, consisting of one ALP-related protein with a single LIM domain and three Enigma-like proteins containing four LIM domains. We demonstrate that the ALP-1 proteins are expressed in muscle cells, where they localize to actin anchorage and muscle attachment sites. We show that the PDZ domain of the ALP-1 proteins is sufficient to target the protein to the dense bodies, which are important actin anchorage sites in C. elegans body wall muscle. We demonstrate that the C. elegans ALP/Enigma proteins are also localized to cell-cell junctions and to both epithelial and muscle cell nuclei. These findings suggest new roles for the ALP/Enigma protein family that may lead to the understanding of their involvement in cardiomyopathy.
authors.affiliation: Huntsman Cancer Institute, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: McKeown
authors.forename: Hsiao-Fen
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Mary C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Beckerle
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: C508653:ALP-1 protein, C elegans; D000199:Actins; D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins