First published online December 8, 2005
Development 133, 102e (2006)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Location matters for MAP kinase
Some proteins have very different functions in different subcellular
locations. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), for example, is usually
transported into the nucleus immediately after it is phosphorylated and, once
there, it promotes cell proliferation. But, report Marenda et al., in the
differentiating vein cells of developing Drosophila wings,
phosphorylated MAPK (pMAPK) is held in the cytoplasm, where it controls cell
fate (see p. 43). At the
same time, note the researchers, pMAPK moves into the nuclei of other wing
cells and promotes cell proliferation. Thus, MAPK phosphorylation can signal
two different cellular outcomes in developing fly wings - differentiation or
proliferation - based on the subcellular localization of pMAPK. Bifurcation of
the Ras signalling pathway through this holding of pMAPK in the cytoplasm,
suggest the authors, may be generally required for the cell cycle arrest that
precedes differentiation.
Related articles in Development:
- MAP kinase subcellular localization controls both pattern and proliferation in the developing Drosophila wing
- Daniel R. Marenda, Alysia D. Vrailas, Aloma B. Rodrigues, Summer Cook, Maureen A. Powers, James A. Lorenzen, Lizabeth A. Perkins, and Kevin Moses
Development 2006 133: 43-51.
[Abstract]
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