Haklai-Topper Liat, Soutschek Jürgen, Sabanay Helena, Scheel Jochen, Hobert Oliver, Peles Elior
Department of Molecular Cell Biology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
Gene Expr Patterns. 2011 Jan-Feb;11(1-2):144-50. doi: 10.1016/j.gep.2010.10.008. Epub 2010 Nov 3.
The neurexin superfamily is a group of transmembrane molecules mediating cell-cell contacts and generating specialized membranous domains in polarized epithelial and nerves cells. We describe here the domain organization and expression of the entire, core neurexin superfamily in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which is composed of three family members. One of the superfamily members, nrx-1, is an ortholog of vertebrate neurexin, the other two, itx-1 and nlr-1, are orthologs of the Caspr subfamily of neurexin-like genes. Based on reporter gene analysis, we find that nrx-1 is exclusively expressed in most if not all cells of the nervous system and localizes to presynaptic specializations. itx-1 and nrx-1 reporter genes are expressed in non-overlapping patterns within and outside the nervous system. ITX-1 protein co-localizes with β-G-spectrin to a subapical domain within intestinal cells. These studies provide a starting point for further functional analysis of this family of proteins.
神经配蛋白超家族是一组跨膜分子，介导细胞间接触，并在极化上皮细胞和神经细胞中产生特殊的膜结构域。我们在此描述线虫秀丽隐杆线虫中整个核心神经配蛋白超家族的结构域组织和表达情况，该超家族由三个家族成员组成。超家族成员之一nrx-1是脊椎动物神经配蛋白的直系同源物，另外两个成员itx-1和nlr-1是类神经配蛋白基因的Caspr亚家族的直系同源物。基于报告基因分析，我们发现nrx-1在大多数（如果不是全部）神经系统细胞中特异性表达，并定位于突触前特化结构。itx-1和nrx-1报告基因在神经系统内外以不重叠的模式表达。ITX-1蛋白与β-G-血影蛋白共定位于肠细胞内的一个亚顶端结构域。这些研究为进一步对该蛋白家族进行功能分析提供了一个起点。
