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. 1991 Jul 1;88(13):5729–5733. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.13.5729

A phorbol ester/diacylglycerol-binding protein encoded by the unc-13 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans.

I N Maruyama 1, S Brenner 1
PMCID: PMC51951  PMID: 2062851

Abstract

Mutations in the unc-13 gene cause diverse defects in the nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Molecular cloning of the gene and sequencing of the cDNA revealed that the product encodes a protein, 1734 amino acids in length, with a central domain with sequence similarity to the regulatory region of protein kinase C. The domain was expressed in Escherichia coli and shown to bind specifically to a phorbol ester in the presence of calcium; diacylglycerol inhibited the binding in a competitive manner. These findings confirm that the unc-13 gene product has binding sites similar to those of protein kinase C and may be a component of an alternative transduction pathway of the diacylglycerol signal to a different effector function in the nervous system.

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