TY - JOUR
T1 - MOM-4, a MAP kinase kinase kinase-related protein, activates WRM-1/LIT-1 kinase to transduce anterior/posterior polarity signals in C. elegans
AU - Shin, Tae Ho
AU - Yasuda, Jun
AU - Rocheleau, Christian E.
AU - Lin, Rueyling
AU - Soto, Martha
AU - Bei, Yanxia
AU - Davis, Roger J.
AU - Mello, Craig C.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank members of our laboratories for helpful discussions. We give special thanks to Yuji Kohara and the entire Worm Genome Consortium for providing the clones and sequences that made this work possible. Some strains were obtained from the C. elegans Genetic Stock Center, which is funded by a grant from the N. I. H. National Center for Research Support. Support for C. C. M was provided in part by a PEW scholarship, a University of Massachusetts DERC pilot and feasibility grant, and an NIH grant. T. H. S. is a Schering-Plough fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. J. Y. and R. J. D were supported by the HHMI, and by grants from the National Institutes of Health. J. Y. was supported in part by the Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research. R. L. was supported by a Basil O'Connor Grant from the March of Dimes Foundation. M. S. was supported in part by the American Cancer Society and an NIH training grant.
PY - 1999/8
Y1 - 1999/8
N2 - In C. elegans, a Wnt/WG-like signaling pathway downregulates the TCF/LEF-related protein, POP-1, to specify posterior cell fates. Effectors of this signaling pathway include a β-catenin homolog, WRM-1, and a conserved protein kinase, LIT-1. WRM-1 and LIT-1 form a kinase complex that can directly phosphorylate POP-1, but how signaling activates WRM-1/LIT-1 kinase is not yet known. Here we show that mom-4, a genetically defined effector of polarity signaling, encodes a MAP kinase kinase kinase-related protein that stimulates the WRM-1/LIT-1-dependent phosphorylation of POP-1. LIT-1 kinase activity requires a conserved residue analogous to an activating phosphorylation site in other kinases, including MAP kinases. These findings suggest that anterior/posterior polarity signaling in C. elegans may involve a MAP kinase-like signaling mechanism.
AB - In C. elegans, a Wnt/WG-like signaling pathway downregulates the TCF/LEF-related protein, POP-1, to specify posterior cell fates. Effectors of this signaling pathway include a β-catenin homolog, WRM-1, and a conserved protein kinase, LIT-1. WRM-1 and LIT-1 form a kinase complex that can directly phosphorylate POP-1, but how signaling activates WRM-1/LIT-1 kinase is not yet known. Here we show that mom-4, a genetically defined effector of polarity signaling, encodes a MAP kinase kinase kinase-related protein that stimulates the WRM-1/LIT-1-dependent phosphorylation of POP-1. LIT-1 kinase activity requires a conserved residue analogous to an activating phosphorylation site in other kinases, including MAP kinases. These findings suggest that anterior/posterior polarity signaling in C. elegans may involve a MAP kinase-like signaling mechanism.
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U2 - 10.1016/S1097-2765(00)80375-5
DO - 10.1016/S1097-2765(00)80375-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 10488343
AN - SCOPUS:0033179988
SN - 1097-2765
VL - 4
SP - 275
EP - 280
JO - Molecular Cell
JF - Molecular Cell
IS - 2
ER -