Disease relevance of Meox2

• Analysis of Meox-2 mutant mice reveals a novel postfusion-based cleft palate [1].
• Several proangiogenic factors caused a rapid down-regulation of Gax mRNA in human vascular endothelial cells, as did conditioned media from breast cancer cell lines [2].

High impact information on Meox2

• Mox1 and Mox2 are closely related homeobox genes that are expressed in overlapping patterns in the paraxial mesoderm and its derivatives [3].
• Mox2 is a component of the genetic hierarchy controlling limb muscle development [3].
• Arrest in G1 or S phases of the cell cycle with chemical inhibitors also did not affect apoptosis, further suggesting that Gax-mediated cell death is independent of cell cycle activity [4].
• Mouse embryonic fibroblasts homozygous null for the Bax gene were refractive to Gax-induced apoptosis, demonstrating the functional significance of this regulation [4].
• The homeodomain protein Gax is down-regulated when quiescent cells are stimulated to proliferate, and constitutive Gax expression inhibits cell proliferation in a p21(WAF/CIP)-dependent manner [4].

Biological context of Meox2

• The Meox1 and Meox2 homeobox genes are expressed in the somites and their derivatives during embryogenesis [5].
• Mice homozygous for a null mutation in Meox1 display relatively mild defects in sclerotome derived vertebral and rib bones, whereas absence of Meox2 function leads to defective differentiation and morphogenesis of the limb muscles [5].
• Mox-1 is genetically linked to the keratin and Hox-2 genes of chromosome 11, while Mox-2 maps to chromosome 12 [6].
• Based on mouse human synteny, two candidate genes (Meox2, Twist1) were identified on chromosome 7 [7].
• Forced Gax expression induced apoptosis in mitogen-activated cultures, but quiescent cultures were resistant to cell death [4].

Anatomical context of Meox2

• Our results demonstrate that Meox1 and Meox2 genes function together and upstream of several genetic hierarchies that are required for the development of somites [5].
• In the skeletal muscle lineage, Gax protein was expressed at the onset of somitogenesis before the expression of the myogenic basic helix-loop-helix and MEF2/RSRF family proteins [8].
• Gax in the cardiac muscle lineage exhibited a biphasic pattern of expression [8].
• Gax expression was also noted in smooth muscle cells as early as day 9.5 pc [8].
• Gax is a homeobox-containing gene that has been detected in adult cardiovascular tissues and exhibits a growth arrest-specific pattern of expression in cultured vascular myocytes [8].

Associations of Meox2 with chemical compounds

• The MOX2 protein contains all of the characteristic features of Mox-2 proteins of other vertebrate species, namely the homeobox, the polyhistidine stretch, and a number of potential serine/threonine phosphorylation sites [9].

Other interactions of Meox2

• At day 15.5 pc, Gax protein was again detectable but restricted to cells within the compact layer of the ventricular myocardium [8].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Meox2

• Further analysis revealed that Gax down-regulated numerous nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) target genes and decreased the binding of NF-kappaB to its target sequence in electrophoretic mobility shift assays [2].

References