Author/Editor		Jeraj, Nataša; Stilla, Annalisa; Petrič, Špela; Di Girolamo, Maria; Črešnar, Bronislava; Lenasi, Helena
Title		Identification and partial characterization of Rhizopus nigricans Gbeta proteins and their expression in the presence of progesterone
Type		članek
Source		J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol
Vol. and No.		Letnik 129, št. 1-2
Publication year		2012
Volume		str. 99-105
Language		eng
Abstract		The mammalian steroid hormone progesterone actuates a signalling pathway in the zygomycete Rhizopus nigricans which includes heterotrimeric G proteins. To investigate the possibility that the Gbeta subunit of these proteins is involved in the signalling, a cDNA library from R. nigricans exposed to progesterone was prepared and a sequence coding for a Gbeta subunit was searched for. Using degenerate primers, two sequences, RnGPB1 and RnGPB2, were identified that exhibited a high degree of identity with those for Gbeta from other filamentous fungi, but not from yeast. The presence of more than one Gbeta subunit is very rare among the fungi, and it has been to date reported only for Rhizopus oryzae. We have shown that progesterone increases the expression of RnGPB1, but has no influence on the expression of RnGPB2. Therefore, our studies imply the involvement of Gbeta subunit 1 in the response of R. nigricans to progesterone. Moreover, the Gbeta subunit is subjected to endogenous ADP-ribosylation in the presence of NAD, which could be important in some, as yet unknown, cell process. Article from a special issue on steroids and microorganisms.
Descriptors		AMINO ACID SEQUENCE FUNGAL PROTEINS MOLECULAR SEQUENCE DATA NAD PROGESTERONE RHIZOPUS SEQUENCE ALIGNMENT