Lin-52 Homolog (LIN52)

The synthetic multivulva (synMuv) genes negatively regulate a receptor tyrosine kinase/Ras pathway that controls vulval induction. The synMuv genes are grouped into two classes, A and B. Animals mutant in a single class are wild-type with respect to vulval development, whereas animals mutant in both an A class and a B class gene are Muv. Classes A and B are proposed to define functionally redundant pathways that inhibit vulval induction .

lin-52 maps between unc-69 and unc-16 on LGIII (Jeff Thomas, personal communication). Both lin-52 and lin-55 are defined by a single alleles, and, in each case, deficiency studies indicate the existing alleles are not null. The complex exists in quiescent cells where it represses cell cycle-dependent genes. It dissociates in S phase when LIN9, LIN37, LIN52 and LIN54 form a subcomplex that binds to MYBL2.