The DAF-7

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

encodes for the

ortholog Sequence homology is the biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of three phenomena: either a spec ...

GDF11 Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) also known as bone morphogenetic protein 11 (BMP-11) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the growth differentiation factor 11 gene. GDF11 is a member of the Transforming growth factor beta family. GD ...

, a

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electr ...

TGF-beta signaling pathway The transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes in both the adult organism and the developing embryo including cell growth, cell differentiation, cell migration, apoptosis, cellular homeostasis an ...

, in the worm ''

Caenorhabditis elegans ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...

''. When binds to the complex of type II receptor

Daf-4 The DAF-4 gene encodes for the only type II receptor of TGF-beta signaling pathway in the worm ''Caenorhabditis elegans'', with the ligands Daf-7 or Dbl-1. When binds to the ligand Daf-7, Daf-4 complexed with the type I receptor Daf-1, and activa ...

and type I receptor

Daf-1 The DAF-1 gene encodes for a cell surface Enzyme-linked receptor of TGF-beta signaling pathway in the worm ''Caenorhabditis elegans''. DAF-1 is one of the type I receptor of TGF-beta pathway. DAF-1 acts as a receptor protein serine/threonine ...

, this receptor protein serine/threonine kinase will

phosphorylation In chemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology and could be driven by natural selection. Text was copied from this source, wh ...

activate the Smad Protein

Daf-8 The DAF-8 nematode gene encoding a R-SMAD protein of TGF-beta signaling pathway, which was originally found in model organism ''Caenorhabditis elegans''. When the TGF-β ligand daf-7 binds to the TGF-β receptors daf-1/daf-4 on the surface of nemat ...

/ 14.

References

Caenorhabditis elegans genes {{Gene-stub