Anemia Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Anemia, including details on symptoms, diagnosis, diet, treatment, causes.

Evidence for subcomplexes in the Fanconi anemia pathway.

Medhurst AL, Laghmani el H, Steltenpool J, Ferrer M, Fontaine C, de Groot J, Rooimans MA, Scheper RJ, Meetei AR, Wang W, Joenje H, de Winter JP

Department of Clinical Genetics and Human Genetics, Vrije Universiteit University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a genomic instability disorder, clinically characterized by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure, and predisposition to malignancy. Cells derived from patients with FA display a marked sensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents, such as mitomycin C (MMC). This observation has led to the hypothesis that the proteins defective in FA are involved in the sensing or repair of interstrand cross-link lesions of the DNA. A nuclear complex consisting of a majority of the FA proteins plays a crucial role in this process and is required for the monoubiquitination of a downstream target, FANCD2. Two new FA genes, FANCB and FANCL, have recently been identified, and their discovery has allowed a more detailed study into the molecular architecture of the FA pathway. We demonstrate a direct interaction between FANCB and FANCL and that a complex of these proteins binds FANCA. The interaction between FANCA and FANCL is dependent on FANCB, FANCG, and FANCM, but independent of FANCC, FANCE, and FANCF. These findings provide a framework for the protein interactions that occur "upstream" in the FA pathway and suggest that besides the FA core complex different subcomplexes exist that may have specific functions other than the monoubiquitination of FANCD2.

Published 7 September 2006 in Blood, 108(6): 2072-80.
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