Journal
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
Volume 120, Issue 11, Pages 1859-1867Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.000703
Keywords
Citron kinase; neuronal differentiation; Rho; TTC3
Categories
Funding
- Telethon [GGP02075] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The Down syndrome critical region (DSCR) on Chromosome 21 contains many genes whose duplication may lead to the major phenotypic features of Down syndrome and especially the associated mental retardation. However, the functions of DSCR genes are mostly unknown and their possible involvement in key brain developmental events still largely unexplored. In this report we show that the protein TTC3, encoded by one of the main DSCR candidate genes, physically interacts with Citron kinase (CIT-K) and Citron N (CIT-N), two effectors of the RhoA small GTPase that have previously been involved in neuronal proliferation and differentiation. More importantly, we found that TTC3 levels can strongly affect the NGF-induced differentiation of PC12 cells, by a CITK-dependent mechanism. Indeed, TTC3 overexpression leads to strong inhibition of neurite extension, which can be reverted by CIT-K RNAi. Conversely, TTC3 knockdown stimulates neurite extension in the same cells. Finally, we find that Rho, but not Rho kinase, is required for TTC3 differentiation-inhibiting activity. Our results suggest that the TTC3-RhoA-CIT-K pathway could be a crucial determinant of in vivo neuronal development, whose hyperactivity may result in detrimental effects on the normal differentiation program.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available