title: Generation of mice deficient in RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3) and characterization of its role in innate immune responses and cell growth.
abstract: The activation of innate immune responses is critical to host defense against microbial infections, wherein nucleic acid-sensing pattern recognition receptors recognize DNA or RNA from viruses or bacteria and activate downstream signaling pathways. In a search for new DNA-sensing molecules that regulate innate immune responses, we identified RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3), whose role has been implicated in the regulation of cell growth. In this study, we generated Rbm3-deficient (Rbm3(-/-)) mice to study the role of RBM3 in immune responses and cell growth. Despite evidence for its interaction with immunogenic DNA in a cell, no overt phenotypic abnormalities were found in cells from Rbm3(-/-) mice for the DNA-mediated induction of cytokine genes. Interestingly, however, Rbm3(-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) showed poorer proliferation rates as compared to control MEFs. Further cell cycle analysis revealed that Rbm3(-/-) MEFs have markedly increased number of G2-phase cells, suggesting a hitherto unknown role of RBM3 in the G2-phase control. Thus, these mutant mice and cells may provide new tools with which to study the mechanisms underlying the regulation of cell cycle and oncogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanai
authors.forename: Daiji
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Naka
authors.forename: Ayana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Tomoka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ao
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanno
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Tadatsugu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D016195:G2 Phase / Q000235:genetics; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C484384:Rbm3 protein, mouse