| First Author | Lee CM | Year | 2011 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | e17867 |
| PubMed ID | 21445300 | Mgi Jnum | J:171677 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4950783 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0017867 |
| Citation | Lee CM, et al. (2011) A novel role of RASSF9 in maintaining epidermal homeostasis. PLoS One 6(3):e17867 |
| abstractText | The physiological role of RASSF9, a member of the Ras-association domain family (RASSF), is currently unclear. Here, we report a mouse line in which an Epstein-Barr virus Latent Membrane Protein 1 (LMP1) transgene insertion has created a 7.2-kb chromosomal deletion, which abolished RASSF9 gene expression. The RASSF9-null mice exhibited interesting phenotypes that resembled human ageing, including growth retardation, short lifespan, less subcutaneous adipose layer and alopecia. In the wild-type mice, RASSF9 is predominantly expressed in the epidermal keratinocytes of skin, as determined by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR, immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization. In contrast, RASSF9-/- mice presented a dramatic change in epithelial organization of skin with increased proliferation and aberrant differentiation as detected by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation assays and immunofluorescence analyses. Furthermore, characteristic functions of RASSF9-/- versus wild type (WT) mouse primary keratinocytes showed significant proliferation linked to a reduction of p21Cip1 expression under growth or early differentiation conditions. Additionally, in RASSF9-/- keratinocytes there was a drastic down-modulation of terminal differentiation markers, which could be rescued by infection with a recombinant adenovirus, Adv/HA-RASSF9. Our results indicate a novel and significant role of RASSF9 in epidermal homeostasis. |
