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Monomeric mature protein of Nodal-related 3 activates Xbra expression

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Abstract

Nodal and related proteins play central roles in axes formation, mesendoderm induction, neural patterning, and left–right development. However, Xenopus nodal-related 3 (Xnr3) has unique activities in regulating neural induction and convergent extension movements. Xnr3 is distinguished from other transforming growth factor-β superfamily members by the absence of the seventh conserved cysteine at the C terminus of the protein, and little is known about the molecular mechanism of Xnr3 action. In this study, we report a novel and unique mechanism of action that the mature region of Xenopus tropicalis nodal-related 3 (Xtnr3) functions as a monomer. Comparative analyses between Xtnr3 and Xnr5 revealed regions required for dimerization: (1) a conserved glycine, (2) the seventh cysteine, and (3) a putative α-helix located between the third and the fourth cysteines. These results indicate that the mature region of Nodal-related 3 entirely differs from other Nodal-related proteins in its mechanism of action.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Dr J. Smith for the gift of plasmid. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. Y. H. was supported by a Research Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.

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Correspondence to Makoto Asashima.

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Communicated by M. Hammerschmidt

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Haramoto, Y., Takahashi, S. & Asashima, M. Monomeric mature protein of Nodal-related 3 activates Xbra expression. Dev Genes Evol 217, 29–37 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-006-0115-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-006-0115-2

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