@article{263a06e52dfb4a1ca39804e35d184245,
title = "PKN-1, a homologue of mammalian PKN, is involved in the regulation of muscle contraction and force transmission in C. elegans",
abstract = "To examine the in vivo functions of protein kinase N (PKN), one of the effectors of Rho small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases), we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model system. We identified a C. elegans homologue (pkn-1) of mammalian PKN and confirmed direct binding to C. elegans Rho small GTPases. Using a green fluorescent protein reporter, we showed that pkn-1 is mainly expressed in various muscles and is localized at dense bodies and M lines. Overexpression of the PKN-1 kinase domain and loss-of-function mutations by genomic deletion of pkn-1 resulted in a loopy Unc phenotype, which has been reported in many mutants of neuronal genes. The results of mosaic analysis and body wall muscle-specific expression of the PKN-1 kinase domain suggests that this loopy phenotype is due to the expression of PKN-1 in body wall muscle. The genomic deletion of pkn-1 also showed a defect in force transmission. These results suggest that PKN-1 functions as a regulator of muscle contraction-relaxation and as a component of the force transmission mechanism.",
author = "Hiroshi Qadota and Takayuki Miyauchi and Nahabedian, {John F.} and Stirman, {Jeffrey N.} and Hang Lu and Mutsuki Amano and Benian, {Guy M.} and Kozo Kaibuchi",
note = "Funding Information: We thank Dr. Alan Coulson (Wellcome Trust Genome Campus) for cosmid clones, Dr. Yuji Kohara (National Institute of Genetics) for EST cDNA clones, Andy Fire (Stanford University School of Medicine) for GFP and ectopic expression vectors, Dr. Min Han (University of Colorado) for pTG96 plasmid, Dr. Robert Barstead (Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation) for C. elegans cDNA library RB2, Dr. Kristy J. Wilson (Emory University) for making the worm tracings for Fig. 4 a, and Dr. Shinya Kuroda (University of Tokyo) for helpful discussion. We also thank Dr. Ken Norman (Albany Medical College) for help with initial characterization of confocal microscopic images, and Dr. Carlos Moreno (Emory University) for advice on statistical analysis. Some of the strains used in this work were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Research Resources. H.Q., M.A., and K.K. were supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Japan, the Japan Society of the Promotion of Science Research for the Future, and the Human Frontier Science Program. G.M.B. was supported by National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases/NIH grant AR051466. H.L. is supported by the NIH (NIBIB-R21EB012803, NIA-R01AG035317), National Science Foundation (CBET/CAREER-0954578), and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.",
year = "2011",
month = mar,
day = "25",
doi = "10.1016/j.jmb.2011.01.039",
language = "English",
volume = "407",
pages = "222--231",
journal = "Journal of Molecular Biology",
issn = "0022-2836",
publisher = "Academic Press",
number = "2",
}