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Regulation of Hox Activity: Insights from Protein Motifs

  • Chapter
Hox Genes

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 689))

Abstract

Deciphering the molecular bases of animal body plan construction is a central question in developmental and evolutionary biology. Genome analyses of a number of metazoans indicate that widely conserved regulatory molecules underlie the amazing diversity of animal body plans, suggesting that these molecules are reiteratively used for multiple purposes. Hox proteins constitute a good example of such molecules and provide the framework to address the mechanisms underlying transcriptional specificity and diversity in development and evolution. Here we examine the current knowledge of the molecular bases of Hox-mediated transcriptional control, focusing on how this control is encoded within protein sequences and structures. The survey suggests that the homeodomain is part of an extended multifunctional unit coordinating DNA binding and activity regulation and highlights the need for further advances in our understanding of Hox protein activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Developmental Biology of Marseille Luminy, University of the Mediterranean, Marseille, France

    Samir Merabet, Nagraj Sambrani, Jacques Pradel & Yacine Graba

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  1. Samir Merabet
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  2. Nagraj Sambrani
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  3. Jacques Pradel
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  4. Yacine Graba
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Correspondence to Samir Merabet or Yacine Graba .

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  1. Developmental Biology, Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, France

    Jean S. Deutsch PhD

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Merabet, S., Sambrani, N., Pradel, J., Graba, Y. (2010). Regulation of Hox Activity: Insights from Protein Motifs. In: Deutsch, J.S. (eds) Hox Genes. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 689. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6673-5_1

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