RBPJ Interacting And Tubulin Associated Protein 1 (RITA1)

The evolutionarily conserved Notch signal transduction pathway regulates fundamental cellular processes during embryonic development and in the adult. Notch intracellular domain (NICD) binds to the recombination signal sequence-binding protein J (RBP-J)/CBF-1 transcription factor to induce expression of Notch target genes. C12ORF52 as a novel RBP-J/CBF-1-interacting protein. RITA is a highly conserved 36 kDa protein that, most interestingly, binds to tubulin in the cytoplasm and shuttles rapidly between cytoplasm and nucleus. This shuttling RITA exports RBP-J/CBF-1 from the nucleus. RITA can reverse a Notch-induced loss of primary neurogenesis in Xenopus laevis. RITA is able to downregulate Notch-mediated transcription. RITA acts as a negative modulator of the Notch signalling pathway, controlling the level of nuclear RBP-J/CBF-1, where its amounts are limiting.