Publications
Cell reportsJul 2024 |
43
(
7
),
114417
DOI:
10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114417

The TSC22D, WNK, and NRBP gene families exhibit functional buffering and evolved with Metazoa for cell volume regulation

Xiao, Yu-Xi; Lee, Seon Yong; Aguilera-Uribe, Magali; Samson, Reuben; Au, Aaron; Khanna, Yukti; Liu, Zetao; Cheng, Ran; Aulakh, Kamaldeep; Wei, Jiarun; Farias, Adrian Granda; Reilly, Taylor; Birkadze, Saba; Habsid, Andrea; Brown, Kevin R; Chan, Katherine; Mero, Patricia; Huang, Jie Qi; Billmann, Maximilian; Rahman, Mahfuzur; Myers, Chad; Andrews, Brenda J; Youn, Ji-Young; Yip, Christopher M; Rotin, Daniela; Derry, W Brent; Forman-Kay, Julie D; Moses, Alan M; Pritišanac, Iva; Gingras, Anne-Claude; Moffat, Jason
Product Used
Genes
Abstract
The ability to sense and respond to osmotic fluctuations is critical for the maintenance of cellular integrity. We used gene co-essentiality analysis to identify an unappreciated relationship between TSC22D2, WNK1, and NRBP1 in regulating cell volume homeostasis. All of these genes have paralogs and are functionally buffered for osmo-sensing and cell volume control. Within seconds of hyperosmotic stress, TSC22D, WNK, and NRBP family members physically associate into biomolecular condensates, a process that is dependent on intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs). A close examination of these protein families across metazoans revealed that TSC22D genes evolved alongside a domain in NRBPs that specifically binds to TSC22D proteins, which we have termed NbrT (NRBP binding region with TSC22D), and this co-evolution is accompanied by rapid IDR length expansion in WNK-family kinases. Our study reveals that TSC22D, WNK, and NRBP genes evolved in metazoans to co-regulate rapid cell volume changes in response to osmolarity.
Product Used
Genes

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