Xenopus ADAM19 is involved in neural, neural crest and muscle development.

ADAM19 is a member of the meltrin subfamily of ADAM metalloproteases. In Xenopus, ADAM19 is present as a maternal transcript. Zygotic expression starts during gastrulation and is apparent in the dorsal blastopore lip.

Extracellular cleavage of cadherin-11 by ADAM metalloproteases is essential for Xenopus cranial neural crest cell migration.

Cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins alternate their expression throughout cranial neural crest (CNC) development, yet our understanding of the role of these molecules during CNC migration remains incomplete. The "mesenchymal" cadherin-11 is expressed in the CNC during migration yet prevents migration when overexpressed in the embryo, suggesting that a defined level of cadherin-11-mediated cell adhesion is required for migration. Here we show that members of the meltrin subfamily of ADAM metalloproteases cleave the extracellular domain of cadherin-11 during CNC migration.

Modulation of cell cycle and gene expression in pancreatic tumor cell lines by methionine deprivation (methionine stress): implications to the therapy of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The effect of methionine deprivation (methionine stress) on the proliferation, survival, resistance to chemotherapy, and regulation of gene and protein expression in pancreatic tumor lines is examined. Methionine stress prevents successful mitosis and promotes cell cycle arrest and accumulation of cells with multiple micronuclei with decondensed chromatin. Inhibition of mitosis correlates with CDK1 down-regulation and/or inhibition of its function by Tyr(15) phosphorylation or Thr(161) dephosphorylation.