Biomedical subjects

Veronique Van de Bor

Publications and source records attributed to Veronique Van de Bor.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

mRNA localisation gets more complex.

Recent advances in techniques for visualising mRNA movement in living cells have led to rapid progress in understanding the mechanism of mRNA localisation in the cytoplasm. There is an emerging consensus that in many cases the mRNA signals that determine intracellular destination are more complex and difficult to define than was first anticipated. Furthermore, the transacting factors that interpret the mRNA signals are numerous and their combinations change during the life of an mRNA, perhaps allowing the selection of many sub-destinations in the cell. Lastly, an emerging theme over the past few years is that many proteins that determine the destinations of mRNAs are recruited on nascent transcripts in the nucleus. They often function in many different processes in the biogenesis of mRNA and probably act in concert to provide specificity.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Novel features of dFMR1, the Drosophila orthologue of the fragile X mental retardation protein.

FMRP belongs to a family of widely expressed proteins that contain RNA-binding domains. Although lack of human FMRP results in mental retardation, correlated with subtle synaptic changes, the precise role of FMRP remains elusive. The Drosophila genome contains a single gene homologous to the FXR family. We show that dFMR1 is subjected to transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation during development and that it homomerizes, like its human counterpart. dFMR1 profile of expression recapitulates that of the human FXR protein family: it is highly enriched in muscles, in central nervous system and in gonads. In the larval brain, anti-dFMR1 also recognizes mushroom bodies, a centre that mediates learning and memory. These features make the fly an ideal system to analyse the role of the FXR family and to identify genes in the FMRP pathway.

Amino Acid Sequence↗