title: Functional and Structural Characterization of FAU Gene/Protein from Marine Sponge Suberites domuncula.
abstract: Finkel-Biskis-Reilly murine sarcoma virus (FBR-MuSV) ubiquitously expressed (FAU) gene is down-regulated in human prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Moreover, its dysregulation is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer. Sponges (Porifera) are animals without tissues which branched off first from the common ancestor of all metazoans. A large majority of genes implicated in human cancers have their homologues in the sponge genome. Our study suggests that FAU gene from the sponge Suberites domuncula reflects characteristics of the FAU gene from the metazoan ancestor, which have changed only slightly during the course of animal evolution. We found pro-apoptotic activity of sponge FAU protein. The same as its human homologue, sponge FAU increases apoptosis in human HEK293T cells. This indicates that the biological functions of FAU, usually associated with "higher" metazoans, particularly in cancer etiology, possess a biochemical background established early in metazoan evolution. The ancestor of all animals possibly possessed FAU protein with the structure and function similar to evolutionarily more recent versions of the protein, even before the appearance of true tissues and the origin of tumors and metastasis. It provides an opportunity to use pre-bilaterian animals as a simpler model for studying complex interactions in human cancerogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. dperina@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Dragutin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perina
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Centre "Ivan Vučetić", Zagreb 10000, Croatia. korolijamm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Korolija
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. Marijana.Popovic-Hadzija@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Marijana Popović
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hadžija
authors.affiliation: The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramaty-Gan 5290002, Israel. ivana.grbesa3@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grbeša
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. Robert.Beluzic@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belužić
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. Mirna.Imesek@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Mirna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imešek
authors.affiliation: Queen's University Belfast, Marine Laboratory, Portaferry BT22 1PF, Northern Ireland, UK. christinemorrow@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. Melanija.Posavec@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Melanija Posavec
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Marjanović
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. tbakran@biol.pmf.hr.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bakran-Petricioli
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. mikoc@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Andreja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mikoč
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb 10000, Croatia. cetkovic@irb.hr.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ćetković
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D057809:HEK293 Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D006367:HeLa Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000737:chemistry; D047233:Suberites / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; D004247:DNA
keywords: FAU; Porifera; RPS30; SNORA62; evolution; ribosomal protein genes; snoRNA