Evolution in action: giant ankyrins awake

Dev Cell. 2015 Apr 6;33(1):1-2. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2015.03.017.

Abstract

Reporting in Developmental Cell, Stephan et al. (2015) demonstrate critical axonal and presynaptic functions from acquisition of an enormous exon by the Drosophila ank2 gene. They propose that highly elongated ank2-XL molecules, associated with the plasma membrane through spectrin and ank2-L, extend deep into the axoplasm to promote microtubule organization.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Comment

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified / metabolism*
  • Ankyrins / metabolism*
  • Axonal Transport / physiology*
  • Drosophila Proteins / metabolism*
  • Drosophila melanogaster / metabolism*
  • Microtubule-Associated Proteins / metabolism*
  • Microtubules / metabolism*
  • Synapses / physiology*

Substances

  • Ank2 protein, Drosophila
  • Ankyrins
  • Drosophila Proteins
  • Microtubule-Associated Proteins
  • futsch protein, Drosophila
  • microtubule-associated protein 1B