The Tousled-Like Kinases as Guardians of Genome Integrity

Arabidopsis leaf plasma membrane proteome using a gel free method: Focus on receptor–like kinases

The hydrophobic proteins of plant plasma membrane still remain largely unknown.  For example in the Arabidopsis genome, receptor-like kinases (RLKs) are plasma membrane proteins, functioning as the primary receptors in the signaling of stress conditions, hormones and the presence of pathogens form a diverse family of over 610 genes. A limited number of these proteins have appeard in pr...

Identification of human Asf1 chromatin assembly factors as substrates of Tousled-like kinases

First described in Arabidopsis thaliana, Tousled-like kinases (Tlks) are highly conserved in both plants and animals. In plants, Tousled kinase is essential for proper flower and leaf development, but no direct functional link to any other plant gene product has yet been established. Likewise, the role of Tlks in animals is unknown. In human cells, two structurally similar Tlks, Tlk1 and Tlk2, ...

The protein kinase TOUSLED facilitates RNAi in Arabidopsis

RNA silencing is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism triggered by double-stranded RNA that is processed into 21- to 24-nt small interfering (si)RNA or micro (mi)RNA by RNaseIII-like enzymes called Dicers. Gene regulations by RNA silencing have fundamental implications in a large number of biological processes that include antiviral defense, maintenance of genome integrity and the orchestratio...

The protein kinase TOUSLED is required for maintenance of transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis.

TOUSLED-like kinases (TLKs) are highly conserved in plants and animals, but direct evidence linking TLKs and transcriptional gene silencing is lacking. We isolated two new alleles of TOUSLED (TSL). Mutations of TSL in ros1 reactivate the transcriptionally silent 35S-NPTII transgene and the transcriptionally silent endogenous loci TSI (TRANSCRIPTIONAL SILENCING INFORMATION). Chromatin immunoprec...

Investigating an Evolutionarily Conserved Role for the Tousled-like Kinase in Genome Stability and as a Novel Target for the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: