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Review
. 2021 Jan;54(1):e12934.
doi: 10.1111/cpr.12934. Epub 2020 Oct 25.

Growth arrest-specific 2 protein family: Structure and function

Nan Zhang  1   2 , Chunyan Zhao  1   2 , Xinxin Zhang  1   2 , Xiaoteng Cui  1   2   3 , Yan Zhao  1   2 , Jie Yang  1   2 , Xingjie Gao  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Growth arrest-specific 2 protein family: Structure and function

Nan Zhang et al. Cell Prolif. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Members of the growth arrest-specific 2 (GAS2) protein family consist of a putative actin-binding (CH) domain and a microtubule-binding (GAR) domain and are considered miniversions of spectraplakins. There are four members in the GAS2 family, viz. GAS2, GAS2L1, GAS2L2 and GAS2L3. Although GAS2 is defined as a family of growth arrest-specific proteins, the significant differences in the expression patterns, interaction characteristics and biological issues or diseases among the different GAS2 family members have not been systemically reviewed to date. Therefore, we summarized the available evidence on the structures and functions of GAS2 family members. This review facilitates a comprehensive molecular understanding of the involvement of the GAS2 family members in an array of biological processes, including cytoskeleton reorganization, cell cycle, apoptosis and cancer development.

Keywords: GAS2; GAS2L1; GAS2L2; GAS2L3; cell cycle; cytoskeleton.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic view of the structure of the GAS2 protein family members. The information of GAS2, GAS2L1α, GAS2L1β, GAS2L2α, GAS2L2β and GAS2L3 is shown, respectively. CH, calponin‐homology; GAR, growth arrest–specific related; EBM, EB‐binding motif; SRIP, SLIP, SPIP, TKIP, TPIP, SKLP and TLLP are the conserved motifs
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree of the GAS2 family members. Using the constraint‐based multiple alignment tool (COBALT) of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/tools/cobalt/], the gene tree of GAS2, GAS2L1, GAS2L2 and GAS2L3 among different species is established. The respective protein accessions of NCBI are provided
Figure 3
Figure 3
Expression profiles of the GAS2 family members in different normal tissues or blood cells. Based on the consensus datasets of Human Protein Atlas (HPA), Genotype‐Tissue Expression (GTEx) and Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome 5 (FANTOM5), the RNA Expression level of GAS2 (A), GAS2L1 (B), GAS2L2 (C) and GAS2L3 (D) in fifty‐five types of tissues or six types of blood cells (https://www.proteinatlas.org/search) is documented. The tissues with relatively high expression levels are marked in red. NX, consensus normalized expression level
Figure 4
Figure 4
The subcellular localization of the GAS2 family members. Through the web portal of GeneCards ( https://www.genecards.org/), COMPARTMENTS localization information of GAS2 (A), GAS2L1 (B), GAS2L2 (C) and GAS2L3 (D) is provided, respectively. The respective unified confidence scores (1 ~ 5) of the protein subcellular localization evidence are shown
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mutational profile analysis of the GAS2 family members in TCGA tumours. The gene mutation characteristics of the GAS2 family members in different types of tumours within TCGA databases are explored using the cBioPortal online website (https://www.cbioportal.org/). The information on mutation type, spectrum and frequency is provided
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic representation of the biological functions of the GAS2 family members
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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