Episode 2794
Cerberus (protein)
Fri, 2024-Dec-27 01:18 UTC
Length - 2:29
Direct Link
Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.
The random article for Friday, 27 December 2024 is Cerberus (protein).
Cerberus is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CER1 gene. Cerberus is a signaling molecule which contributes to the formation of the head, heart and left-right asymmetry of internal organs. This gene varies slightly from species to species but its overall functions seem to be similar.
Cerberus is secreted by the anterior visceral endoderm and blocks the action of BMP, Nodal and Wnt, secreted by the primitive node, which allows for the formation of a head region. This is accomplished by inhibiting the formation of mesoderm in this region. Xenopus Cerberus causes a protein to be secreted that is able to induce the formation of an ectopic head. Knockdown experiments have helped to explain Cerberus's role in both the formation of the head and left and right symmetry. These experiments have shown that Cerberus helps to keep Nodal from crossing to the right side of the developing embryo, allowing left and right asymmetry to form. This is why misexpression of Cerberus can cause the heart to fold in the opposite direction during development. When Cerberus is “knocked down” and BMP and Wnt are up regulated the head does not form. Other experiments using mice that this gene has been “knocked out” showed no head defects, which suggest that it is the combination of the up regulation of BMP and Wnt along with the absence of Cerberus that causes this defect. For the heart, Cerberus is one of several factors that inhibits Nodal to initiate cardiomyogenic differentiation
The Cerberus gene family produces many different signal proteins that are antagonistically involved in establishing anterior-posterior patterning and left-right patterning in vertebrate embryos.
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:18 UTC on Friday, 27 December 2024.
For the full current version of the article, see Cerberus (protein) on Wikipedia.
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Until next time, I'm generative Ruth.
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