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Identification of a human HECT family protein with homology to the Drosophila tumor suppressor gene hyperplastic discs

Abstract

Use of the differential display technique to isolate progestin-regulated genes in T-47D human breast cancer cells led to identification of a novel gene, EDD. The cDNA sequence contains a 2799 amino acid open reading frame sharing 40% identity with the predicted 2894 amino acid product of the Drosophila melanogaster tumor suppressor gene hyperplastic discs, while the carboxy-terminal 889 amino acids show 96% identity to a rat 100 kDa HECT domain protein. EDD mRNA was progestin-induced in T-47D cells and was highly abundant in testes and expressed at moderately high levels in other tissues, suggesting a broad role for EDD. Anti-EDD antibodies immunoprecipitated an approximately 300 kDa protein from T-47D cell lysates. HECT family proteins function as E3 ubiquitin-protein ligases, targeting specific proteins for ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis. EDD is likely to function as an E3 as in vitro translated protein bound ubiquitin reversibly through a conserved HECT domain cysteine residue. EDD was localized by FISH to chromosome 8q22, a locus disrupted in a variety of cancers. Given the homology between EDD and the hyperplastic discs protein, which is required for control of imaginal disc growth in Drosophila, EDD potentially has a role in regulation of cell proliferation or differentiation.

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Callaghan, M., Russell, A., Woollatt, E. et al. Identification of a human HECT family protein with homology to the Drosophila tumor suppressor gene hyperplastic discs. Oncogene 17, 3479–3491 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1202249

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1202249

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