Disease relevance of qkr58E-3

• In addition, loss of kep1 suppressed GMR-rpr-mediated apoptosis in the Drosophila eye, and kep1 mutant flies had increased susceptibility to Escherichia coli infection [1].

High impact information on qkr58E-3

• We found that Kep1 bound dredd RNA in vitro, and that extracts prepared from kep1 mutant ovaries had markedly reduced proteolytic cleavage activity toward the caspase-8 target substrate IETD-7-amino-4-trifluoromethyl coumarin [1].
• We have previously shown that kep1 can induce apoptosis when transfected into different cell lines [1].
• The Drosophila kep1 gene encodes an RNA binding protein related to the murine QUAKING apoptotic inducer [1].
• Here we report the identification of two novel Drosophila KH domain proteins, which we termed KEP1 (KH encompassing protein) and SAM [2].
• The identification of KEP1 and SAM implies that a large GSG domain protein family exists and helps redefine the boundaries of the GSG domain [2].

Biological context of qkr58E-3

• Taken together, our data suggest that KEP1 and SAM may play a role in the activation or regulation of apoptosis and further implicate the GSG domain in RNA binding and oligomerization [2].
• Mutations in the Drosophila kep1 gene, encoding a single maxi KH (K homology) domain-containing RNA-binding protein, result in a reduction of fertility in part due to the disruption of the apoptotic programme during oogenesis [3].
• This modulation in splicing was not observed in the parental NIH 3T3 cell line in which we obtained 7.5% exon 5 inclusion following kep1 transfection [3].
• Using a CD44v5 alternative splicing reporter construct, we observed 99% inclusion of the alternatively spliced exon 5 following kep1 transfection in a cell line that constitutively expresses activated Src [3].

Regulatory relationships of qkr58E-3

• Taken together, our results suggest that Kep1 regulates apoptosis by influencing the processing of dredd RNA [1].

Other interactions of qkr58E-3

• KEP1 and Who/How were nuclear and SAM was cytoplasmic [2].
• We observed increased levels of the beta isoform of dredd mRNA in kep1 mutants as compared with wild-type [1].

References