Caenorhabditis elegans CNK-1 promotes Raf activation but is not essential for Ras/Raf signaling.

ABSTRACT: Connector enhancer of Ksr (CNK) is a conserved multidomain protein essential for Ras signaling in Drosophila melanogaster and thought to be involved in Raf kinase activation. However, the precise role of CNK in Ras signaling is not known, and mammalian CNKs are proposed to have distinct functions. Caenorhabditis elegans has a single CNK homologue, cnk-1. Here, we describe the role of cnk-1 in C. elegans Ras signaling and its requirements for LIN-45 Raf activation. We find that cnk-1 positively regulates multiple Ras signaling events during development, but, unlike Drosophila CNK, cnk-1 does not appear to be essential for signaling. cnk-1 mutants appear to be normal but show cell-type-specific genetic interactions with mutations in two other Ras pathway scaffolds/adaptors ksr-1 and sur-8. G

SUBMITTER: Rocheleau CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1187957 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature