Alternative titles; symbols
HGNC Approved Gene Symbol: GMFB
Cytogenetic location: 14q22.2 Genomic coordinates (GRCh38): 14:54,474,485-54,488,980 (from NCBI)
Glia maturation factor (GMF) is a 17-kD protein that was initially identified as a growth and differentiation factor in the vertebrate brain. Kaplan et al. (1991) obtained a cDNA of the human GMF gene from a human brainstem library.
Bourgeois et al. (2001) cloned a full-length mouse Gmfb cDNA encoding a deduced 142-amino acid protein that is identical to human GMFB with the exception of 2 amino acids. Northern blot analysis detected expression of a single transcript in heart, brain, spleen, lung, liver, kidney, and testis. No expression was detected in skeletal muscle. The transcript is developmentally regulated, with peak expression at embryonic day 15. RT-PCR analysis and in situ hybridization demonstrated higher expression of Gmfb in telencephalon than in the posterior parts of the embryonic brain.
GMF can be phosphorylated in vitro by protein kinase A (PKA; 188830), protein kinase C (PKC; 176960), casein kinase II (115440), and ribosomal S6 kinase (see 300075) (Lim and Zaheer, 1995).
Zaheer and Lim (1996) showed that PKA-phosphorylated GMF is a potent inhibitor of activity of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/ERK2; see 601795) subfamily of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Lim and Zaheer (1996) demonstrated that PKA-phosphorylated GMF is a strong enhancer of p38 MAP kinase activity in vitro. They suggested that ERK and p38 carry out opposing functions and that GMF is an intracellular regulator of signal transduction pathways.
Bourgeois, F., Guimiot, F., Mas, C., Bulfone, A., Levacher, B., Moalic, J. M., Simonneau, M. Identification and isolation of a full-length clone of mouse GMFB (Gmfb), a putative intracellular kinase regulator, differentially expressed in telencephalon. Cytogenet. Cell Genet. 92: 304-309, 2001. [PubMed: 11435704] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1159/000056919]
Kaplan, R., Zaheer, A., Jaye, M., Lim, R. Molecular cloning and expression of biologically active human glia maturation factor-beta. J. Neurochem. 57: 483-490, 1991. [PubMed: 1712830] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-4159.1991.tb03777.x]
Lim, R., Zaheer, A. Phorbol ester stimulates rapid intracellular phosphorylation of glia maturation factor. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 211: 928-934, 1995. [PubMed: 7598724] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1995.1901]
Lim, R., Zaheer, A. In vitro enhancement of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity by phosphorylated glia maturation factor. J. Biol. Chem. 271: 22953-22956, 1996. [PubMed: 8798479] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.271.38.22953]
Zaheer, A., Lim, R. In vitro inhibition of MAP kinase (ERK1/ERK2) activity by phosphorylated glia maturation factor (GMF). Biochemistry 35: 6283-6288, 1996. [PubMed: 8639570] [Full Text: https://doi.org/10.1021/bi960034c]