Acetylation regulates subcellular localization of the Wnt signaling nuclear effector POP-1 (original) (raw)

  1. Frédérique Gay1,
  2. Dominica Calvo1,4,
  3. Miao-Chia Lo2,4,
  4. Julian Ceron1,
  5. Morris Maduro3,
  6. Rueyling Lin2, and
  7. Yang Shi1,5
  8. 1Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA; 2Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390-9148, USA; 3Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

Abstract

Lymphoid enhancer factor/T-cell factor (LEF/TCF) are transcription factors that mediate the Wnt signaling pathway, and have crucial roles during embryonic development in various organisms. Here we report that acetylation enhances nuclear retention of POP-1, the Caenorhabditis elegans LEF/TCF homolog, through increasing nuclear import and blocking nuclear export. We identify three lysines that are acetylated in vivo, and demonstrate their essential requirement for proper nuclear localization and biological activity of POP-1 during_C. elegans_embryogenesis. The conservation of these lysines among other LEF/TCF family members suggests that acetylation may be an important, evolutionarily conserved mechanism regulating subcellular distribution of LEF/TCF factors.

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