Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Studying Cell Cycle-regulated Gene Expression by Two Complementary Cell Synchronization Protocols
Published on: June 6, 2017
Role of mammalian Ecdysoneless in cell cycle regulation
Jun Hyun Kim1, Channabasavaiah Basavaraju Gurumurthy, Mayumi Naramura
1Department of Genetics, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198-5805, USA.
Abstract:
The Ecdysoneless (Ecd) protein is required for cell-autonomous roles in development and oogenesis in Drosophila, but the function of its evolutionarily conserved mammalian orthologs is not clear. To study the cellular function of Ecd in mammalian cells, we generated Ecd(lox/lox) mouse embryonic fibroblast cells from Ecd floxed mouse embryos. Cre-mediated deletion of Ecd in Ecd(lox/lox) mouse embryonic fibroblasts led to a proliferative block due to a delay in G(1)-S cell cycle progression; this defect was reversed by the introduction of human Ecd. Loss of Ecd led to marked down-regulation of E2F target gene expression. Furthermore, Ecd directly bound to Rb at the pocket domain and competed with E2F for binding to hypophosphorylated Rb. Our results demonstrate that mammalian Ecd plays a role in cell cycle progression via the Rb-E2F pathway.
Related Concept Videos
Positive Regulator Molecules
Positive Regulator Molecules
Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation
Negative Regulator Molecules
The Cell Cycle Control System
Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are the primary cell cycle regulators and function at the cell...
The Cell Cycle Control System

