Regulation of Synaptic Pumilio Function by an Aggregation-Prone Domain

Regulation of synaptic Pumilio function by an aggregation-prone domain.

We identified Pumilio (Pum), a Drosophila translational repressor, in a computational search for metazoan proteins whose activities might be regulated by assembly into ordered aggregates. The search algorithm was based on evolutionary sequence conservation patterns observed for yeast prion proteins, which contain aggregation-prone glutamine/asparagine (Q/N)-rich domains attached to functional d...

Identification of Synaptic Targets of Drosophila Pumilio

Drosophila Pumilio (Pum) protein is a translational regulator involved in embryonic patterning and germline development. Recent findings demonstrate that Pum also plays an important role in the nervous system, both at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and in long-term memory formation. In neurons, Pum appears to play a role in homeostatic control of excitability via down regulation of para, a vo...

Synaptic function and regulation.

Yukiko Goda is a senior group leader at the Medical Research Council Cell Biology Unit and the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and an honorary professor in the Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology at University College London, UK. Research efforts in her laboratory are directed towards mechanisms underlying structural and functional plasticity at individual and amongst ...

Modular Recognition of RNA by a Human Pumilio-Homology Domain

Puf proteins are developmental regulators that control mRNA stability and translation by binding sequences in the 3' untranslated regions of their target mRNAs. We have determined the structure of the RNA binding domain of the human Puf protein, Pumilio1, bound to a high-affinity RNA ligand. The RNA binds the concave surface of the molecule, where each of the protein's eight repeats makes conta...

The Regulation of Synaptic Form and Function by microRNAs