Disease relevance of mira

• We have isolated a novel transposable element from the Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda (obscura group) which shows an organization intermediate between that of typical retroviruses and the I factor of Drosophila melanogaster [1].
• Vice versa, recombinant Lambda phages isolated from a genomic D. miranda library were localized in D. miranda and probed for localization in D. melanogaster [2].

High impact information on mira

• Like Prospero, Brat binds and cosegregates with the adaptor protein Miranda [3].
• To distinguish between these models, I investigated patterns of nucleotide variability along 37 kb of the recently formed neo-Y chromosome in Drosophila miranda [4].
• Evidence that positive selection drives Y-chromosome degeneration in Drosophila miranda [4].
• Here, I compare patterns of genome evolution in a 40-kb gene-rich region on homologous neo-sex chromosomes of Drosophila miranda [5].
• The asymmetric localization of Miranda protein requires inscuteable [6].

Biological context of mira

• Loss of miranda gene function abolishes asymmetric Prospero localization during mitosis [6].
• Identification of Miranda protein domains regulating asymmetric cortical localization, cargo binding, and cortical release [7].
• Asymmetric cell division: Miranda chauffeured by Jaguar [8]?
• In pins mutants, these epithelial cells were not affected, but neuroblasts showed defects in the orientation of their mitotic spindle and the basal asymmetric localisation of Numb and Miranda during metaphase [9].
• Numb can act by repressing signalling via the transmembrane receptor Notch, whereas Miranda localizes the transcription factor Prospero which initiates daughter cell specific gene expression [10].

Anatomical context of mira

• Miranda protein is localized asymmetrically, along with Prospero, to the basal cell membrane during mitosis [6].
• Miranda localization is disrupted by the microfilament disrupting agent latrunculin A [11].
• While looking for new molecular components of the centrosome in Drosophila embryos, we have isolated a short isoform of Miranda [12].
• A 3.5-kb genomic DNA fragment containing the X1R chromosome-linked retina-specific Arrestin B gene (also called Arrestin 2) of Drosophila miranda (ArrB-mr) was introduced into the Drosophila melanogaster genome via germ-line transformation [13].

Associations of mira with chemical compounds

• However, the other apical components, Bazooka-atypical PKC-Par6-Inscuteable, still remain polarized and responsible for asymmetric Miranda localization, suggesting their dominant role in localizing cell-fate determinants [14].
• Dosage compensation and dietary glucose repression of larval amylase activity in Drosophila miranda [15].

Co-localisations of mira

• In this study, we show that Miranda is colocalized with Staufen and Prospero in neuroblasts, and is required for the asymmetric cortical localization of both proteins [7].

Other interactions of mira

• Furthermore, miranda function is required for the asymmetric localization of Staufen [11].
• Miranda directly binds to Jar, raising the possibility that Miranda and its associated proteins are translocated basally by this actin-based motor [16].
• Epithelial cells lose their apical-basal polarity in DmPAR-6 mutants, asymmetric cell divisions in neuroblasts are misorientated, and the proteins Numb and Miranda do not segregate correctly into the basal daughter cell [17].
• Here, we report that the Brain tumor (Brat) translation repressor is partitioned into GMCs via direct interaction with the Miranda scaffolding protein [18].
• Electron microscopy on purified syncytial centrosomes shows that Miranda is located on the pericentriolar material along with gamma-tubulin [12].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of mira

• Immunofluorescence on syncytial Drosophila embryos shows that Miranda has a dynamic redistribution and is associated with centrosomes [12].
• Cellular autoradiography was used to measure relative rates of chromosomal RNA synthesis and to examine the regulatory phenomenon of X-linked dosage compensation in Drosophila miranda, a species containing two distinct, nonhomologous X chromosomes (X1 and X2) [19].
• We also used in situ hybridization to analyze the neo-Y chromosome of Drosophila miranda, an ancestral autosome that has become attached to the Y chromosome and is now partially heterochromatic [20].
• PCR analysis was conducted to investigate the frequency of spock and worf and of the previously identified transposons, TRIM and TRAM, at individual chromosomal sites among 12 strains of D. miranda [21].

References