LRCH proteins: a novel family of cytoskeletal regulators

Comparative genomics has revealed an unexpected level of conservation for gene products across the evolution of animal species. However, the molecular function of only a few proteins has been investigated experimentally, and the role of many animal proteins still remains unknown. Here we report the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one 2010-08, Vol.5 (8), p.e12257
Main Authors:	Foussard, Hélène, Ferrer, Pierre, Valenti, Philippe, Polesello, Cédric, Carreno, Sébastien, Payre, François
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Animal species Animals Biological evolution Cell Biology/Cell Growth and Division Cell Biology/Cytoskeleton Cell Biology/Developmental Molecular Mechanisms Cell division Cell size Chromosomes Clonal deletion Conservation Conserved Sequence Cortex Cytoskeletal Proteins - deficiency Cytoskeletal Proteins - genetics Cytoskeletal Proteins - metabolism Cytoskeleton Cytoskeleton - metabolism Developmental Biology/Aging Developmental Biology/Developmental Evolution Developmental Biology/Morphogenesis and Cell Biology Drosophila Drosophila melanogaster Evolution, Molecular Evolutionary biology Evolutionary conservation Female Fertility Fitness Gene Deletion Genetic aspects Genomes Genomics Humans Infertility, Female - genetics Insects Life Sciences Male Mice MicroRNAs Mitosis Morphology Protein Transport Proteins Regulators Scaffolding Temperature extremes Wildlife conservation
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Summary:	Comparative genomics has revealed an unexpected level of conservation for gene products across the evolution of animal species. However, the molecular function of only a few proteins has been investigated experimentally, and the role of many animal proteins still remains unknown. Here we report the characterization of a novel family of evolutionary conserved proteins, which display specific features of cytoskeletal scaffolding proteins, referred to as LRCHs. Taking advantage of the existence of a single LRCH gene in flies, dLRCH, we explored its function in cultured cells, and show that dLRCH act to stabilize the cell cortex during cell division. dLRCH depletion leads to ectopic cortical blebs and alters positioning of the mitotic spindle. We further examined the consequences of dLRCH deletion throughout development and adult life. Although dLRCH is not essential for cell division in vivo, flies lacking dLRCH display a reduced fertility and fitness, particularly when raised at extreme temperatures. These results support the idea that some cytoskeletal regulators are important to buffer environmental variations and ensure the proper execution of basic cellular processes, such as the control of cell shape, under environmental variations.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203