Mu Hong, Ohta Kunimasa, Kuriyama Sei, Shimada Naoko, Tanihara Hidenobu, Yasuda Kunio, Tanaka Hideaki
Division of Developmental Neurobiology, Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Honjo 2-2-1, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan.
Mech Dev. 2003 Feb;120(2):143-55. doi: 10.1016/s0925-4773(02)00423-9.
The lens plays an important role in eye development. To investigate the molecular mechanisms involved, we used signal sequence trap screens with a chicken lens cDNA library and identified a novel secreted molecule, equarin. Equarin encodes consensus repeat domains conserved in human SRPX and mouse Urb. In the embryonic eye, equarin transcript is detected exclusively in the lens, and persists in the lens equatorial region in a high-dorsal-to-low-ventral gradient. In vitro analysis of equarin protein indicated that after translation, it is modified, cleaved, and secreted to extracellular locations. Microinjection of equarin mRNA into Xenopus embryos induced abnormal eye development. These data suggest that equarin is involved in eye formation.
晶状体在眼睛发育中起着重要作用。为了研究其中涉及的分子机制，我们利用鸡晶状体cDNA文库进行信号序列捕获筛选，鉴定出一种新的分泌分子，equarin。Equarin编码在人类SRPX和小鼠Urb中保守的共有重复结构域。在胚胎眼中，equarin转录本仅在晶状体中检测到，并以高背到低腹的梯度持续存在于晶状体赤道区域。对equarin蛋白的体外分析表明，翻译后它会被修饰、切割并分泌到细胞外位置。将equarin mRNA显微注射到非洲爪蟾胚胎中会诱导眼睛发育异常。这些数据表明equarin参与眼睛形成。
