Vesicle mediated protein sorting plays an important role in segregation of intracellular molecules into distinct organelles. Genetic studies in yeast have identified more than 40 vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) genes involved in vesicle transport to vacuoles. This gene encodes the human homolog of yeast class C Vps11 protein. The mammalian class C Vps proteins are predominantly associated with late endosomes/lysosomes, and like their yeast counterparts, may mediate vesicle trafficking steps in

The BH3-only proteins, which include Blk, Bad, Bik, Hrk, BID, Bim, NOXA, PUMA and Bmf, are proapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family. Bcl-2 modifying factor (Bmf) is a BH3-only protein that binds prosurvival Bcl-2 family members to initiate apoptosis. Bmf is sequestered to Myosin V motors on Actin in the cytoskeleton by associating with Dynein light chain 2 (DLC2) homodimers. If the cell undergoes loss of attachment (anoikis), the cytoskeleton is disrupted and Bmf is released from DLC2. Bmf th

The paternally imprinted Neuronatin gene (NNAT) is initially expressed in rhombomeres and the pituitary gland and is later expressed more widely, but much less abundantly, in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The human NNAT gene maps to chromosome 20q11.23 and contains an imprinting region associated with morphological abnormalities and early neonatal lethality. Specifically, hypermethylation of the NNAT gene occurs in both myeloid and lymphoid acute pediatric leukemias and may

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) class of transcription factors govern cell fate determination by controlling a variety of cellular differentiation processes. POD-1 (podocyte-expressed 1, also designated capsulin or epicardin) is a nuclear bHLH protein that is involved in the specification of select mesodermal cell populations associated with heart, cranial skeletal muscle, gut and urogenital system. POD-1 is selectively expressed in mesenchymal cells at sites of epithelial-mesenchymal inter