Functional characterization of rcn-1, regulator of calcineurin, Functional characterization of rcn-1, regulator of calcineurin in C. elegans

Abstract

Calcineurin regulator proteins (RCAN1) are associated with several diseases such as Down syndrome, Alzheimer`s disease, and cardiac hypertrophy. In this study, we have characterized rcn-1(regulator of calcineurin), the homologue of RCAN1, in C. elegans. The rcn-1 is located on chromosome III on cosmid F54E7 and shows 40% amino acid identity with human RCAN1. rcn-1 is expressed in hypodermal cells, nerve cords and various neurons, vulva epithelial and muscle cells, marginal cells of the pharynx, and structures of the male tail. We confirmed that the catalytic domain of calcineurin A (TAX-6) interacted with RCN-1 by yeast two- hybrid system. To examine its in vivo function, we are characterizing rcn-1 mutants (tm 1925 and tm2021) in relation to the calcineurin functions