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General Comment |
Microtubules are constituent parts of a diverse variety of eukaryotic cell structures, e.g., the mitotic apparatus, cilia, flagella, and elements of the cytoskeleton. They consist principally of 2 soluble proteins, alpha- and beta-tubulin, each with a molecular weight of about 55,000.
NCBI Summary:
Microtubules, key participants in processes such as mitosis and intracellular transport, are composed of heterodimers of alpha- and beta-tubulins. The protein encoded by this gene is a beta-tubulin. Defects in this gene are associated with complex cortical dysplasia with other brain malformations-5. Two transcript variants encoding distinct isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2015]
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Comment |
Nicole A. Grieshaber et al reported the
Follicle-Stimulating Hormone-Responsive Cytoskeletal Genes in Rat Granulosa Cells: Class I -Tubulin, Tropomyosin-4, and Kinesin Heavy Chain.
FSH regulates gene expression for granulosa cell differentiation and follicular development. Therefore, FSH-responsive genes are crucial, but only a few genes have been identified for the early stage of follicular development. In particular, little is known about cytoskeletal genes, which likely play essential roles in the morphological changes such as the antrum formation, a major landmark. FSH is also known to induce the differentiation of an immature, undifferentiated rat ovary granulosa (ROG) cell line. The data show that FSH induced massive yet distinct reorganization of microtubules and the actin cytoskeletons as well as morphological changes. To identify those genes responding to FSH during the differentiation, differential display was performed on ROG cells. Of the 80 FSH-responsive genes identified, there were three cytoskeleton-related genes (class I -tubulin, tropomyosin 4, and kinesin heavy chain), which are crucial for intracellular morphogenesis, transport, and differentiation. Northern blots show that the level of these gene transcripts reached a peak at 6 h after FSH treatment and subsided at 24 h. FSH induced the similar temporal expression not only in granulosa cells isolated from immature rats, but also in vivo. For instance, in situ hybridization showed that -tubulin mRNA was transiently expressed in the granulosa cells of large preantral and early antral follicles. Despite the same temporal expression, the regulatory mechanisms of the three genes were strikingly different. As an example, cycloheximide blocked the -tubulin mRNA expression, whereas it increased tropomyosin-4 (TM4) mRNA. Yet, it did not impact kinesin heavy chain (Khc) mRNA. In conclusion, FSH induces the massive reorganization of the cytoskeletons and morphological changes by the selective regulation of the gene expression, protein synthesis, and rearrangement of the cytoskeletal proteins in the ROG cells and probably, specific follicles and granulosa cells.
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