The Ca2+/calcineurin-regulated cup gene family in Dictyostelium discoideum and its possible involvement in development.

ABSTRACT: Changes in free intracellular Ca2+ are thought to regulate several major processes during Dictyostelium development, including cell aggregation and cell type-specific gene expression, but the mechanisms involved are unclear. To learn more about Ca2+ signaling and Ca2+ homeostasis in this organism, we used suppression subtractive hybridization to identify genes up-regulated by high extracellular Ca2+. Unexpectedly, many of the genes identified belong to a novel gene family (termed cup) with seven members. In vegetative cells, the cup genes were up-regulated by high Ca2+ but not by other ions or by heat, oxidative, or osmotic stress. cup induction by Ca2+ was blocked completely by inhibitors of calcineurin and protein synthesis. In developing cells, cup expression was high during aggregation

SUBMITTER: Coukell B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC329516 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature