BANF1

What is BANF1 Protein?

BANF1, short for Barrier to Autointegration Factor 1, is a protein found in many cells. It's like a guardian for our DNA, playing a critical role in managing how our genetic material gets organized and protected. By binding to DNA, it helps keep the structure of our cells' nuclei intact and prevents unwanted DNA from integrating into our chromosomes. This function makes it important not just for regular cell maintenance, but also for responding to stress, like during infections or when alien DNA tries to sneak in. Scientists have also noticed its increased activity in various cancers, including gastric cancer, hinting at a broader role in cell growth or survival.

What is the Function of BANF1 Protein?

BANF1 is like a DNA bodyguard in our cells. This protein binds to DNA and helps organize and protect the nucleus, the cell's control center. It stops rogue DNA from messing up our genetic material, preventing chaos within our chromosomes. BANF1 is crucial for normal cell upkeep and plays a key role when the cell faces stress, like infections. Researchers have found that BANF1 seems to work overtime in some cancers, suggesting it might aid in cell survival or growth when things go awry.

BANF1 Related Signaling Pathway

BANF1 is involved in various cellular processes, primarily by interacting with DNA and nuclear components. One key pathway it influences is the DNA damage response. When DNA gets damaged, BANF1 helps coordinate repair mechanisms, ensuring that the genetic material is fixed properly. It also plays a role in managing how DNA is packed within the nucleus, which affects how genes are expressed. Additionally, BANF1's activity has been linked to pathways that control cell growth and division. This connection becomes particularly interesting when looking at cancer, where BANF1 might contribute to unchecked cell proliferation by tweaking these signaling routes.

BANF1 Related Diseases

BANF1 is linked to a few health issues, particularly when its usual functions go awry. In the world of cancer, BANF1 often shows up more active than normal. This heightened activity could help cancer cells grow and spread, making it a target of interest for researchers. Beyond cancer, mutations or changes in BANF1 function are also tied to conditions affecting the immune system, as this protein plays a part in DNA repair and cellular responses to stress. Disorders involving premature aging, like progeria, have been connected to problems with nuclear structure, where BANF1 is a key player. These associations make understanding BANF1 crucial in both cancer research and studying certain genetic diseases.

Bioapplications of BANF1

BANF1 is a protein with interesting potential in the field of biotechnology and medicine. Given its role in DNA organization and nucleus integrity, scientists are exploring its use in gene therapy and cancer treatment. By understanding how BANF1 regulates cell growth and repair mechanisms, researchers aim to develop strategies that could halt cancer progression or assist in repairing genetic disorders. Its ability to interact with DNA also makes it a candidate for studying viral infections, as it could potentially be harnessed to prevent viruses from integrating their DNA into host cells, providing a novel antiviral approach. Overall, BANF1's functions open doors to innovative therapies and diagnostic tools.

Case Study 1: Xu Y. et al. Aging (Albany NY). 2024

Gastric cancer is pretty common and usually comes with a poor outlook. We dove into sequencing data to find unique genes linked to this cancer, mainly focusing on BANF1, a gene that's highly active in many cancers, including gastric. The findings suggest BANF1 could be a sign of patient outcomes and might influence immune cell behavior. Researchers ran lab tests and confirmed its high activity in gastric cancer cells, and knocking down BANF1 significantly slowed down cell growth and spread. In mouse models, reducing BANF1 led to notably slower tumor growth.

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  Fig1. WB detection of BANF1 protein expression in 10 pairs of GC tissues.
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  Fig2. Immunofluorescence staining showed the expression and localization of BANF1 protein in MKN-45 and BGC-823 cells.

Case Study 2: Kobayashi S. et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015

Understanding how cells detect foreign DNA helps fight infections and respond to transfected DNA. Researchers developed a method using DNA-coated beads in live cells to track this process. BAF binds to foreign DNA immediately, forming a protective membrane to avoid autophagy. Without BAF, this fails, leading to increased autophagy. BAF may play a role in membrane remodeling upon detecting DNA.

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  Fig3. Time-lapse images of GFP-BAF around anti–GFP-beads (anti–GFP-beads) incorporated into HeLa/GFP-BAF cells.
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  Fig4. Time-lapse images of GFP-BAF before and after the injection of exogenous circular dsDNA.

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  Fig1. BAF is required for the formation of a single nucleus following cell division. (Rhiannon M Sears, 2020)
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  Fig2. Overview of BAF-associated proteins in different functional pathways. (Augusta Jamin, 2015)

BANF1 has several biochemical functions, for example, DNA binding,protein binding. Some of the functions are cooperated with other proteins, some of the functions could acted by BANF1 itself. We selected most functions BANF1 had, and list some proteins which have the same functions with BANF1. You can find most of the proteins on our site.

Function	Related Protein
protein binding	SATB1,ARMC2,KCNG4,CASP9,MITD1,FES,PROC,ISG20L2,AZIN2,ACTL6A
DNA binding	TBX6,HIST3H2A,TCF3,SIM1B,SHPRH,ZBED2,RAD51B,PC,POLA2,ZNF74

BANF1 has direct interactions with proteins and molecules. Those interactions were detected by several methods such as yeast two hybrid, co-IP, pull-down and so on. We selected proteins and molecules interacted with BANF1 here. Most of them are supplied by our site. Hope this information will be useful for your research of BANF1.

xav939;HLA-B;EMD;CDK5RAP3;ssdna_dcdgm;AIM2;PTBP3;RPL10;ATP6V1A