The human UBIAD1 gene is downregulated in several tumor types and has been described as a tumor suppressor gene. UBIAD1 plays a key role in biosynthesis of vitamin K2 and coenzyme Q10. There is single orthologous gene in Drosophila, heix, for which loss-of-function mutations, RNAi targeting constructs, and alleles caused by insertional mutagenesis have been.
The human UBIAD1 gene has not been introduced into flies.
Animals homozygous or hemizygous for loss of function alleles of Dmel\heix typically die in the larval or pupal stages. In larvae, phenotypes affecting the hematopoietic system, including lymph gland hypertrophy, hemocyte overproliferation and aberrant differentiation are observed. Melantotic masses in multiple tissues, especially lymph glands, are observed. By assaying formation of melantotic masses, this system has been used to assess therapeutic effects of vitamin K2 and to characterize the role of Ras/ERK signaling.
[updated Sep. 2020 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]
The human UBIAD1 gene has been found to be downregulated in several tumor types and has been described as a tumor suppressor gene (FBrf0240845 and references cited therein).
UBIAD1 encodes a protein involved in cholesterol and phospholipid metabolism. The UBIAD1 protein is a prenyltransferase that mediates the formation of menaquinone-4 (MK-4, a vitamin K2 isoform) and coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone). [Gene Cards, UBIAD1; 2020.09.12]
One to one: 1 human gene to 1 Drosophila gene.
High-scoring ortholog of UBIAD1 (1 Drosophila to 1 human). Dmel\heix shares 57% identity and 70% similarity with the human gene.
