WD Repeat Containing Domain Protein 26 (WDR26)

WD40 repeat proteins play important roles in a variety of cellular functions, including cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and intracellular signal transduction. The cDNA of WDR26 is 3,729 bp, encoding a Gbeta-like protein of 514 amino acids in the cytoplasm. The protein is highly conserved in evolution across different species from yeast, Drosophila, mouse, to human. Northern blot analysis indicates that WDR26 is expressed in most of the examined human tissues, especially at a high level in skeletal muscle. Overexpression of WDR26 in the cell inhibits the transcriptional activities of ETS proteins, ELK-1 and c-fos serum response element (SRE), mediated by MEKK1. These results suggest that WDR26 may act as a negative regulator in MAPK signaling pathway and play an important role in cell signal transduction.