While the enzymatic activity and polymerization capacity of CtpS is universally conserved, its cell shape function appears to be species specific.
T lymphocytes expressing γδ T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) comprise evolutionarily conserved cells with paradoxical features.
We show that these genes have a highly conserved function as regulators of cell shape in both mouse and human metastatic melanoma cells.
These experiments show that elements that define cell shape are conserved throughout phylogeny and that a screen in yeast is a valuable tool for recovering heterologous cDNAs that encode cytoskeletal elements and the proteins that regulate them.
Transient cell spreading conferred a memory of apoptosis inhibition which was conserved upon adoption of a conventional cell shape.
Importantly, the effects on ACs were less severe as only a small fraction were affected and cell shape was largely conserved after 24 h AX-Glc, whereas nearly all PCs displayed significant F-actin disruption and chaotic cell shape changes resulting in very long and thin processes.
Our results indicate that multiple proteins affecting cell shape and cytoskeletal organization are conserved from Drosophila to human cells, and that they can be divided into groups that reflect their morphology and effects on migration.
To understand how VAB-19 functions in C. elegans epithelial cell shape change we focused on its most highly conserved region, the ANK repeat domain, which is necessary for VAB-19 function but not for its subcellular localization [11].
Of the 26 human genes identified as homologues of these Drosophila genes, nearly all affected cell shape and/or migration in PC3 prostate carcinoma cells, implying that these genes have conserved functions between Drosophila and human cells.
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) function via conserved type 1 and type 2 transmembrane receptors to regulate a range of biological processes, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and cell shape, in a highly context-dependent manner (Massagué, 2000; Chen et al., 2004; Aubin et al., 2004; Kishigami and Mishina, 2005; Eblaghie et al., 2006).
