Prickle (protein)

The first prickle protein was identified in Drosophila as a planar cell polarity protein. Vertebrate prickle-1 was first found as a rat protein that binds to a transcription factor, neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF). It was then recognized that other vertebrates including mice and humans have two genes that are related to Drosophila prickle^[1]. Mouse prickle-2 was found to be expressed in mature neurons of the brain along with mouse homologs of Drosophila planar polarity genes flamingo and dischevelled^[2].

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Prickle is recruited to the cell surface membrane by strabismus, another planar cell polarity protein^[3]. In the developing Drosophila wing, prickle becomes concentrated at the proximal side of cells^[3]. Prickle can compete with the ankyrin-repeat protein Diego for a binding site on Dishevelled^[4].

In Drosophila, prickle is present inside cells in multiple forms due to alternative splicing of the prickle mRNA^[5]. The relative levels of the alternate forms may be regulated and involved in the normal control of planar cell polarity^[5].

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