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Good news in the nuclear envelope: loss of lamin A might be a gain
Paola Scaffidi, Tom Misteli
Paola Scaffidi, Tom Misteli
Published March 1, 2006
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2006;116(3):632-634. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI27820.
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Commentary

Good news in the nuclear envelope: loss of lamin A might be a gain

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Abstract

Genetic diseases often reveal the physiological roles of the affected proteins. The identification of mutations in the nuclear envelope proteins lamin A and lamin C as the cause of a diverse group of human diseases has expanded our understanding of the lamin proteins from being merely structural elements of the cell nucleus and has implicated them in novel cellular functions including signal transduction and gene expression. However, it now appears that the physiological relevance of one of the lamin proteins in organismal function has been overestimated. In this issue of the JCI, Fong et al. demonstrate that lamin A–deficient mice are phenotypically normal (see the related article beginning on page 743). The good news is these findings open the door to a new strategy for the therapeutic treatment of diseases caused by mutations in lamin A, such as muscular dystrophies and some types of premature aging syndromes.

Authors

Paola Scaffidi, Tom Misteli

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Figure 1

Lamin A is not essential for a healthy mouse.

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Lamin A is not essential for a healthy mouse.
(A) Lamin A and lamin C ar...
(A) Lamin A and lamin C are generated by alternative splicing of the LMNA gene. Use of a donor splice site within exon 10 generates the prelamin A protein, which is then modified by farnesylation and subsequently cleaved by the Zmpste24 endoprotease to produce mature lamin A. Skipping of the exon 10 splice site generates lamin C. Due to the presence of a stop codon in exon 10, lamin C lacks the posttranslationally modified C-terminal region. (B) Comparison between cellular and organismal phenotypes in different mouse backgrounds.

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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

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