Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules

2018 Edition
| Editors: Sangdun Choi

Ect2 (Epithelial Cell Transforming 2 Oncogene)

  • Toru Miki
Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_493
How to cite

Synonyms

 Pebble (PBL) in Drosophila melanogaster

Historical Background

Ect2 is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) of the Rho GTPases (Tatsumoto et al. 1999). It was isolated as a cDNA clone with capability of converting mouse fibroblasts to malignantly transformed cells (Miki et al. 1991, 1993). Transforming Ect2 variants lacked the N-terminal regulatory domain, and efficiently induced focus formation, anchorage-independent cell growth, and cell invasiveness in mouse fibroblasts. Injection of athymic nude mice with Ect2 transformants resulted in tumor formation. While full-length Ect2 is localized only in the nucleus, its oncogenic variants are detected in the cytoplasm as well. In M phase, Ect2 distributes in the entire cells after nuclear membrane breakdown, and is concentrated on mitotic spindles and then central spindles. In the last stage of M phase, Ect2 translocates to the midbody, which is formed between two emerging daughter cells. Perturbation of Ect2 function in M...

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References

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© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Laboratory of Cellular SignalingNagaoka University of TechnologyNiigataJapan