title: Acheron, an novel LA antigen family member, binds to CASK and forms a complex with Id transcription factors.
abstract: Acheron, a Lupus antigen ortholog, was identified as a novel death-associated transcript from the intersegmental muscles of the moth Manduca sexta. Acheron is phylogenetically-conserved and represents a new sub-family of Lupus antigen proteins. Acheron is expressed predominantly in neurons and muscle in vertebrates, and regulates several developmental events including myogenesis, neurogenesis and possibly metastasis. Using Acheron as bait, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen with a mouse embryo cDNA library and identified CASK-C, a novel CASK/Lin-2 isoform, as an Acheron binding partner. Acheron and CASK-C bind via the C-terminus of Acheron and the CaMKII-like domain of CASK-C. Co-immunoprecipitation assays verify this interaction and demonstrate that Acheron also forms a complex with all members of the Id (inhibitor of differentiation) proteins. Taken together, these data suggest a mechanism by which Acheron may regulate development and pathology.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Morrill Science Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Haifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Chul
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valavanis
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lawrence M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D051528:Guanylate Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D051796:Inhibitor of Differentiation Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000737:chemistry; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques; D000097585:SS-B Antigen
chemical_list: D001324:Autoantigens; D051528:Guanylate Kinases; D051796:Inhibitor of Differentiation Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D012261:Ribonucleoproteins; D000097585:SS-B Antigen; C106868:CASK kinases