Characterization of lamin mutation phenotypes in Drosophila and comparison to human laminopathies.

ABSTRACT: Lamins are intermediate filament proteins that make up the nuclear lamina, a matrix underlying the nuclear membrane in all metazoan cells that is important for nuclear form and function. Vertebrate A-type lamins are expressed in differentiating cells, while B-type lamins are expressed ubiquitously. Drosophila has two lamin genes that are expressed in A- and B-type patterns, and it is assumed that similarly expressed lamins perform similar functions. However, Drosophila and vertebrate lamins are not orthologous, and their expression patterns evolved independently. It is therefore of interest to examine the effects of mutations in lamin genes. Mutations in the mammalian lamin A/C gene cause a range of diseases, collectively called laminopathies, that include muscular dystrophies and prematur

SUBMITTER: Munoz-Alarcon A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1885830 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature