Title |
Loss of FrmB results in increased size of developmental structures during the multicellular development of Dictyostelium cells |
Author |
Hyeseon Kim, Mi-Rae Lee, and Taeck Joong Jeon* |
Address |
Department of Biology & BK21-Plus Research Team for Bioactive Control Technology, College of Natural Sciences, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea |
Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 55(9),730–736, 2017,
|
DOI |
10.1007/s12275-017-7221-x
|
Key Words |
FrmB, FERM domain-containing protein, development,
Dictyostelium |
Abstract |
FERM domain-containing proteins are involved in diverse
biological and pathological processes, including cell-substrate
adhesion, cell-cell adhesion, multicellular development,
and cancer metastasis. In this study, we determined the functions
of FrmB, a FERM domain-containing protein, in the
cell morphology, cell adhesion, and multicellular development
of Dictyostelium cells. Our results show that FrmB appears
to play an important role in regulating the size of developmental
structures. frmB null cells showed prolonged aggregation
during development, resulting in increased size of developmental
structures, such as mounds and fruiting bodies,
compared to those of wild-type cells, whereas FrmB overexpressing
cells exhibited decreased size of developmental
structures. These results suggest that FrmB may be necessary
for limiting the sizes of developmental structures. Loss of
FrmB also resulted in decreased cell-substrate adhesion and
slightly increased cell area, suggesting that FrmB had important
roles in the regulation of cell adhesion and cell morphology.
These studies would contribute to our understanding
of the intertwined and overlapped functions of FERM
domain-containing proteins. |