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Klhl3 Gene Essay

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The KLHL3 gene (Kelch like family member 3) creates a protein that works in conjunction with proteasomes to degrade unwanted proteins via an ubiquitin-proteasome system. KLHL3 is mainly expressed in the cerebellum and the distal collecting tubule in the kidneys (3). is Though expressed in the KLHL3 protein has a N-terminal BTB domain, a C-terminal that has Ketch-like repeats, and a BACK domain, forming a conformation that is a bladed beta propeller structure (1). The protein produced by this gene is part of a complex (E3 ubiquitin ligase), which functions to indicate damaged and additional proteins by labelling these with ubiquitin, which is the tag later recognized by proteasomes for breakdown (4). This labelling is possible with the …show more content…

Mutations for KLHL3 that cause disease all involve missense mutations, resulting in a different amino acid, again noting the inability to interact with substrates (7). One mutation, for example, resulted in a cytosine to thymine nucleotide change at codon 410, changing from a serine to a leucine amino acid. This change in polarity, moving from a polar to nonpolar amino acid, disrupts regular formation of the E3 complex, not allowing for ubiquitin attachment. These missense mutations often inhibit the ability of the KLHL3 protein to form the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, and so this prevents the normal function of identifying extraneous and damaged proteins, resulting in an excess of WNK4, due to no protein degradation as a result of the inability to tag these excess proteins. This inability to form the complex in some mutations is a result of the cluster of serine residues that were affected by the mutation, building up on the propeller domains, disrupting interactions with substrate and/or altering protein structure, though it is more common to see one or the other (6). This leads to high blood pressure, due to no control over WNK4 concentrations in the blood. It was commented on that the majority of mutations affected the ability of the KLHL3 to associate with the rest of the complex, therefore unable to

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