In a yeast two-hybrid screen using the full-length Akt as bait, we found that prohibitin 2 (PHB2) specifically interacts with Akt. The C terminus of Akt (amino acids 413-480) and a central region of PHB2 (amino acids 120-232) are responsible for their mutual interaction. PHB2 acts as a transcriptional repressor in cells. PHB2 interacts with both MyoD and MEF2, and represses both MyoD- and MEF2-dependent gene transcription. Furthermore, binding of PHB2 to both MyoD and MEF2 significantly decreases upon myogenic differentiation. When stably expressed in C2C12 myogenic cells, PHB2 inhibits myogenin induction and phenotypic muscle differentiation. PHB2 was found to specifically recruit histone deacetylase 1, which is probably responsible for its repressive activity. Co-expression of Akt can partially reduce PHB2 binding to MyoD and relieve the repressive effect of PHB2 on myogenic reporters, which could be one of the mechanisms underlying Akt-mediated MyoD activation and accelerated muscle differentiation.
Interviews with Biologists @ 100 conference speakers
Explore our interviews with keynote speakers from the Biologists @ 100 conference, hosted to celebrate our publisher’s 100th anniversary, where we discuss climate change and biodiversity with Hans-Otto Pörtner and Jane Francis, health and disease with Charles Swanton and emerging technologies with Manu Prakash and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz.
Introducing our new Associate Editors
In this Editorial, JCS Editor-in-Chief Michael Way welcomes five new Associate Editors to the JCS team. These Associate Editors will expand our support for the wider cell biology community and handle articles in immune cell biology, proteostasis, imaging and image analysis, plant cell biology, and stem cell biology and modelling.
The spatial choreography of mRNA biosynthesis
In their Review, André Ventura-Gomes and Maria Carmo-Fonseca detail the latest research progress and technological advancements that are helping to unlock how nuclear organisation underpins control of gene transcription and pre-mRNA splicing.
JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants
Early-career researchers - working in an area covered by JCS - who would like to attend a microscopy training course, please apply. Deadline dates for 2025 applications: 6 June 2025 (decision by week commencing 28 July 2025) and 5 September 2025 (decision by week commencing 20 October 2025).
The emerging roles of the endoplasmic reticulum in mechanosensing and mechanotransduction
In their Review, Jonathan Townson and Cinzia Progida highlight recently emerging evidence for a role of the endoplasmic reticulum in enabling a cell to sense and respond to changes in the extracellular mechanical environment.
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