Crossref journal-article
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Genetics (286)
Abstract

Abstract Drosophila melanogaster Armadillo and its vertebrate homolog β-catenin play multiple roles during development. Both are components of cell-cell adherens junctions and both transduce Wingless (Wg)/Wnt intercellular signals. The current model for Wingless signaling proposes that Armadillo binds the DNA-binding protein dTCF, forming a bipartite transcription factor that activates Wingless-responsive genes. In this model, Armadillo's C-terminal domain is proposed to serve an essential role as a transcriptional activation domain. In Xenopus, however, overexpression of C-terminally truncated β-catenin activates Wnt signaling, suggesting that the C-terminal domain might not be essential. We reexamined the function of Armadillo's C terminus in Wingless signaling. We found that C-terminally truncated mutant Armadillo has a deficit in Wg-signaling activity, even when corrected for reduced protein levels. However, we also found that Armadillo proteins lacking all or part of the C terminus retain some signaling ability if overexpressed, and that mutants lacking different portions of the C-terminal domain differ in their level of signaling ability. Finally, we found that the C terminus plays a role in Armadillo protein stability in response to Wingless signal and that the C-terminal domain can physically interact with the Arm repeat region. These data suggest that the C-terminal domain plays a complex role in Wingless signaling and that Armadillo recruits the transcriptional machinery via multiple contact sites, which act in an additive fashion.

Bibliography

Cox, R. T., Pai, L.-M., Kirkpatrick, C., Stein, J., & Peifer, M. (1999). Roles of the C Terminus of Armadillo in Wingless Signaling in Drosophila. Genetics, 153(1), 319–332.

Authors 5
  1. Rachel T Cox (first)
  2. Li-Mei Pai (additional)
  3. Catherine Kirkpatrick (additional)
  4. Joel Stein (additional)
  5. Mark Peifer (additional)
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Dates
Type When
Created 4 years, 4 months ago (April 27, 2021, 11:11 p.m.)
Deposited 3 years, 8 months ago (Jan. 3, 2022, 10:44 p.m.)
Indexed 2 months, 3 weeks ago (June 11, 2025, 1:03 a.m.)
Issued 26 years ago (Sept. 1, 1999)
Published 26 years ago (Sept. 1, 1999)
Published Online 26 years ago (Sept. 1, 1999)
Published Print 26 years ago (Sept. 1, 1999)
Funders 0

None

@article{Cox_1999, title={Roles of the C Terminus of Armadillo in Wingless Signaling in Drosophila}, volume={153}, ISSN={1943-2631}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/genetics/153.1.319}, DOI={10.1093/genetics/153.1.319}, number={1}, journal={Genetics}, publisher={Oxford University Press (OUP)}, author={Cox, Rachel T and Pai, Li-Mei and Kirkpatrick, Catherine and Stein, Joel and Peifer, Mark}, year={1999}, month=sep, pages={319–332} }