A potential dimerization region of dCAMTA is critical for termination of fly visual response

J Biol Chem. 2007 Jul 20;282(29):21253-8. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M701223200. Epub 2007 May 30.

Abstract

CAMTAs are a group of Ca(2+)/calmodulin binding transcription activators that are implicated in brain tumor suppression, cardiac hypertrophy, and plant sensory responses. The sole fly CAMTA, dCAMTA, stimulates expression of an F-box gene, dFbxl4, to potentiate rhodopsin deactivation, which enables rapid termination of fly visual responses. Here we report that a dCAMTA fragment associated with a full-length protein in co-transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells. The interaction site was mapped to a region within the DNA-binding CG-1 domain. With this potential dimerization site mutated, the full-length dCAMTA had defective nuclear localization. In transgenic flies, this mutant dCAMTA variant failed to stimulate expression of dFbxl4 and rescue the slow termination of light response phenotype of a dCAMTA null mutant fly. Our data suggest that dCAMTA may function as a dimer during fly visual regulation and that the CG-1 domain may mediate dimerization of CAMTA transcription factors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Brain Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins / chemistry*
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism
  • Dimerization
  • Drosophila Proteins / chemistry*
  • Drosophila Proteins / physiology
  • Drosophila melanogaster
  • Electroretinography
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Rhodopsin / chemistry
  • Trans-Activators / chemistry*
  • Trans-Activators / physiology

Substances

  • CAMTA protein, Drosophila
  • CAMTA1 protein, human
  • Calcium-Binding Proteins
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Trans-Activators
  • Rhodopsin