Nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of a GATA transcription factor functions as a development timer

ABSTRACT: Biological oscillations are observed at many levels of cellular organization. In the social amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum, starvation-triggered multicellular development is organized by periodic cAMP waves, which provide both chemoattractant gradients and developmental signals. We report that GtaC, a GATA transcription factor, exhibits rapid nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in response to cAMP waves. This behavior requires coordinated action of a nuclear localization signal and reversible G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated phosphorylation. While both are required for developmental gene expression, receptor occupancy promotes nuclear exit of GtaC, which leads to a transient burst of transcription at each cAMP cycle. We demonstrate that this biological circuit, like an M-bM-^@M-^\edge

ORGANISM(S): Dictyostelium discoideum

SUBMITTER: Balaji Santhanam 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-54866 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress