Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 1

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SMAD, Small mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 1

Crystalline Structure of SMAD1

Other names: SMAD 1, Small mothers against DPP homolog 1, Mad-related protein, Transforming growth factor-beta signaling protein 1, BSP-1, hSMAD1, JV4-1
Genetic data
Gene code: HUGO code:SMAD1
Protein Structure/Function
Protein type: protein coding
Functions: signal transduction, transcription
Domains: MH1, MH2
Other
Taxa expressing: homo sapiens; homolog: many metazoan phyla
Cell types: ubiquitous
Subcellular localization: Primary:nucleus, Alternative:cytoplasm
Covalent modifications: phosphorylation

SMAD1 or Small mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 1 is a polypeptide that, as its name describes, is a homolog of the Drosophila gene: "Mothers against decapentaplegic". It belongs to the SMAD family of proteins, which modulate the TGFβ superfamily of ligands. Like many other TGFβ family modulators SMAD1 is involved in cell signalling and modulates signals of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP's). The binding of ligands causes the oligomerization and phosphorylation of the SMAD1 protein. SMAD1 is a receptor regulated SMAD (R-SMAD) and is activated by bone morphogenetic protein type 1 receptor kinase.

'
Identifiers
Symbol SMAD1
Alt. Symbols MADH1
Entrez 4086
HUGO 6767
OMIM 601595
RefSeq NM_005900
UniProt Q15797
Other data
Locus Chr. 4 q31.21

[edit] Nomenclature

The SMAD proteins are homologs of both the drosophila protein, mothers against decapentaplegic (MAD) and the C. elegans protein SMA. The name is a combination of the two. During Drosophila research, it was found that a mutation in the gene, MAD, in the mother, repressed the gene, decapentaplegic, in the embryo. The phrase "Mothers against" was added since mothers often form organizations opposing various issues eg. Mothers Against Drunk Driving or (MADD).