14-3-3 Proteins: Hot numbers in signal transduction

14-3-3 Proteins: Hot numbers in signal transduction

14-3-3 proteins have been known about for a long while but their functions have been poorly understood; recent results indicate that they play a role in both signal transduction and the cell cycle.

An essential role for 14-3-3 proteins in brassinosteroid signal transduction in Arabidopsis.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are essential hormones for plant growth and development. BRs regulate gene expression by inducing dephosphorylation of two key transcription factors, BZR1 and BZR2/BES1, through a signal transduction pathway that involves cell-surface receptors (BRI1 and BAK1) and a GSK3 kinase (BIN2). How BR-regulated phosphorylation controls the activities of BZR1/BZR2 is not fully unde...

14-3-3 adaptor proteins are intermediates in ABA signal transduction during barley seed germination.

Proteins of the 14-3-3 family have well-defined functions as regulators of plant primary metabolism and ion homeostasis. However, neither their function nor action mechanism in plant hormonal signaling have been fully addressed. Here we show that abscisic acid (ABA) affects both expression and protein levels of five 14-3-3 isoforms in embryonic barley roots. As ABA prolongs the presence of 14-3...

Consummating signal transduction: the role of 14-3-3 proteins in the completion of signal-induced transitions in protein activity.

The 14-3-3 proteins

So what’s so interesting about them? In 1996 14-3-3 was found to bind to a variety of oncoproteins including Raf-1, polyoma middle T, and Bcr-Abl. Since then the 14-3-3 proteins have been shown to bind to a wide variety of proteins involved in signal transduction, cell cycle and apoptosis. These proteins include Cdc25, NFAT, Bad, Cbl, A20, PI 3-kinase, IRS-1, MEKK, p130Cas, glucocorticoid recep...