First published online April 13, 2007
Development 134, 905e (2007)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Placental development: attached to chaperones
A successful pregnancy depends on many events, such as the attachment of
the allantois to the chorionic mesothelium. However, little is known about the
genes that are expressed in the chorionic trophoblast and whose loss results
in attachment defects. Mrj, which encodes a co-chaperone, is one of
these genes, and is now shown by James Cross and colleagues to regulate the
turnover of keratin in the developing mouse placenta (see
p. 1809).
Chorioallantoic attachment fails and keratin inclusion bodies develop in
Mrj-/- embryos. This attachment failure is a consequence
of cytotoxicity, the authors show, that is caused by keratin inclusion bodies
rather than by a failure of the keratin cytoskeleton to form;
keratin-deficient embryos correctly attach, and a reduction in keratin
expression in Mrj-/- conceptuses rescues failed
attachment. Mrj is known to interact with Huntington disease proteins with
expanded N-terminal repeat aggregates within neurons. Because inclusion bodies
are associated with other neurodegenerative diseases, the authors propose that
Mrj may have a more general role in preventing intracellular inclusion
bodies.
Related articles in Development:
- The Mrj co-chaperone mediates keratin turnover and prevents the formation of toxic inclusion bodies in trophoblast cells of the placenta
- Erica D. Watson, Colleen Geary-Joo, Martha Hughes, and James C. Cross
Development 2007 134: 1809-1817.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
