The C. elegans SYS-1 Protein Is a Bona Fide β-Catenin

Jing Liu; Bryan T Phillips; Maria F Amaya; Judith Kimble; Wenqing Xu

doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.015

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The C. elegans SYS-1 Protein Is a Bona Fide β-Catenin

Journal article

Open access

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The C. elegans SYS-1 Protein Is a Bona Fide β-Catenin

Jing Liu, Bryan T Phillips, Maria F Amaya, Judith Kimble and Wenqing Xu

Developmental cell, Vol.14(5), pp.751-761

2008

DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.015

PMCID: PMC2538363

PMID: 18477457

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Abstract

C. elegans SYS-1 has key functional characteristics of a canonical β-catenin, but no significant sequence similarity. Here, we report the SYS-1 crystal structure, both on its own and in a complex with POP-1, the C. elegans TCF homolog. The two structures possess signature features of canonical β-catenin and the β-catenin/TCF complex that could not be predicted by sequence. Most importantly, SYS-1 bears 12 armadillo repeats and the SYS-1/POP-1 interface is anchored by a conserved salt-bridge, the “charged button.” We also modeled structures for three other C. elegans β-catenins to predict the molecular basis of their distinct binding properties. Finally, we generated a phylogenetic tree, using the region of highest structural similarity between SYS-1 and β-catenin, and found that SYS-1 clusters robustly within the β-catenin clade. We conclude that the SYS-1 protein belongs to the β-catenin family and suggest that additional divergent β-catenins await discovery.

PROTEINS

SIGNALING

Details

Title: Subtitle: The C. elegans SYS-1 Protein Is a Bona Fide β-Catenin
Creators: Jing Liu - Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7420, USA
Bryan T Phillips - Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA
Maria F Amaya - Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7420, USA
Judith Kimble - Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA
Wenqing Xu - Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7420, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Developmental cell, Vol.14(5), pp.751-761
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.02.015
PMID: 18477457
PMCID: PMC2538363
ISSN: 1534-5807
eISSN: 1878-1551
Language: English
Date published: 2008
Academic Unit: Biology
Record Identifier: 9984217415502771

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