Novel Interaction Between Structural and Signaling Proteins

Researchers working with genetically engineered mice have identified a novel interaction between beta-spectrin, a membrane structural protein, and TGF-beta, a messenger and control protein. This finding was published in the February 7, 2003, issue of Science.

Investigators from Georgetown University (Washington, DC, USA) observed that mice lacking the gene for beta-spectrin had many defects in the embryonic development of the heart, brain, and other organs. In the current study, they reported that abnormalities in the beta-spectrin gene also interfered with some functions of TGF-beta, a messenger and control protein involved in initiation of growth and embryonic differentiation such as the creation of bone and muscle as well as many types of cancer.

"Without beta-spectrin,” explained senior author Dr. Lopa Mishra, associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University, "a key molecular link which turns on a battery of genes important to development does not occur. This happens because proteins do not attach to the ‘ribwork' or inner skeleton of the cell.”

The next step will be to examine the relation of beta-spectrin to TGF-beta in humans, since specifically interrupting the interactions of beta-spectrin in the TGF pathway could represent a new approach to the treatment of cancer and disorders involving the overexpression of TGF-beta.