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Investigating Protein-protein Interactions in Live Cells Using Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer
Published on: May 26, 2014
The putative forkhead transcription factor FOXL2 is mutated in blepharophimosis/ptosis/epicanthus inversus syndrome
1Istituto di Ricerca sulle Talassemie ed Anemie Mediterranee CNR, and Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Biotecnologie, Ospedale Regionale per le Microcitemie, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
Abstract:
In type I blepharophimosis/ptosis/epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES), eyelid abnormalities are associated with ovarian failure. Type II BPES shows only the eyelid defects, but both types map to chromosome 3q23. We have positionally cloned a novel, putative winged helix/forkhead transcription factor gene, FOXL2, that is mutated to produce truncated proteins in type I families and larger proteins in type II. Consistent with an involvement in those tissues, FOXL2 is selectively expressed in the mesenchyme of developing mouse eyelids and in adult ovarian follicles; in adult humans, it appears predominantly in the ovary. FOXL2 represents a candidate gene for the polled/intersex syndrome XX sex-reversal goat.
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