AKNA

 AKNA is a protein that in humans is encoded by the AKNA gene. The protein is an AT-hook transcription factor which contains an AT-hook binding motif. The protein is expressed as different isoforms. AKNA is known to upregulate expression of the receptor CD40 and its ligand CD40L/CD154.^[5][6]

AKNA
Identifiers
Aliases	AKNA, AT-hook transcription factor
External IDs	OMIM: 605729 MGI: 2140340 HomoloGene: 49947 GeneCards: AKNA
Gene location (Human) Chr. Chromosome 9 (human)[1] Band 9q32 Start 114,334,156 bp[1] End 114,394,405 bp[1]
Gene location (Mouse) Chr. Chromosome 4 (mouse)[2] Band 4|4 B3-C1 Start 63,367,125 bp[2] End 63,403,354 bp[2]
Gene ontology Molecular function • GO:0000980 RNA polymerase II cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding • DNA binding • GO:0001077, GO:0001212, GO:0001213, GO:0001211, GO:0001205 DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific • GO:0001200, GO:0001133, GO:0001201 DNA-binding transcription factor activity, RNA polymerase II-specific Cellular component • membrane • cell nucleus • fibrillar center • nucleoplasm • centrosome • cytosol • intracellular membrane-bounded organelle • centriole • microtubules • cytoplasm • cytoskeleton Biological process • regulation of transcription, DNA-templated • positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • transcription, DNA-templated • transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter • epithelial–mesenchymal transition • neuroblast division in subventricular zone • regulation of inflammatory response • delamination • neuroblast delamination • nervous system development Sources:Amigo / QuickGO
Orthologs
Species	Human	Mouse
Entrez	80709	100182
Ensembl	ENSG00000106948	ENSMUSG00000039158
UniProt	Q7Z591	Q80VW7
RefSeq (mRNA)	NM_030767 NM_001317950 NM_001317952	NM_001045514 NM_001305432
RefSeq (protein)	NP_001304879 NP_001304881 NP_110394	NP_001038979 NP_001292361
Location (UCSC)	Chr 9: 114.33 – 114.39 Mb	Chr 4: 63.37 – 63.4 Mb
PubMed search	[3]	[4]
Wikidata
View/Edit Human View/Edit Mouse

AKNA is an essential part in the construction, organization, and proliferation of the centrosomal microtubules in order to maintain the neural stem cells during the process of neurogenesis.^[7][8] Due to these functions AKNA plays in the centrosomal microtubules it also has an active role in delamination during the formation of the subventricular zone, and the regulation of the amount of access provided to cells in this zone.^[7][9] Furthermore, because of AKNA's role in the centrosomal microtubules it also plays a part in the management of the modification of epithelial cells losing their polarity and attachment, and transforming into the mobile mesenchymal stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).^[5][9] This occurs because the alongside the increase in centrosomal microtubules both nucleation factors and minus end stabilizers are also increasing, causing the apical endfoot to have its constriction regulated because this affects the microtubules found at adherens junctions.^[5][9][10]

EtymologyEdit

AKNA derives its name from the word "mother" in Inuit and Mayan language, and it's link to their mythology.^[11] For in Inuit and Mayan culture AKNA is the "goddess of fertility and childbirth".^[11] This connection is made from the observations of what occurs to mice that are missing the AKNA protein. In mice lacking AKNA their body very rapidly enters an increasing weakened state, very similarly to as if they did not have a mother to support them, and are not likely to live longer than 10 day's.^[11]

In humansEdit

The AKNA protein in humans has been found to be associated with cervical cancer. This is due to it being located on the 9q32 chromosome, in the FRA9E region. It is not uncommon for this chromosome to play a role in neoplasm and inflammatory diseases because how frequently it undergoes loss of function.^[11][12][13]

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article  Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.