Members of the lysyl oxidase family are expressed during the development of the frog Xenopus laevis

Morpholino knockdown of lysyl oxidase impairs zebrafish development, and reflects some aspects of copper metabolism disorders

“…This expression pattern correlates with mammals where LOX has been found in the cerebral cortex and ventricles, but also in skeletal muscle-tendon unit, in the muscle layer in the dermis, and in vascular smooth muscle cells (Hayashi et al, 2004;Gilad et al, 2005;Heinemeier et al, 2007;Li et al, 2000). Furthermore, though the three genes encoding members of the lysyl oxidase family identified in Xenopus are all expressed in the notochord, the most closely related to lox is also expressed in head and somites (Geach and Dale, 2005), corroborating our results. In the present study, we show that lox knockdown in zebrafish gives rise to multiple developmental defects.…”

“…3). These phenotypes have also been observed in Xenopus treated with the lysyl oxidase inhibitor β-APN (Geach and Dale, 2005), in zebrafish treated with the metalloproteases inhibitor MCP1 (Anderson et al, 2007), and in a zebrafish model of copper deficiency (Mendelsohn et al, 2006). These data reinforce the validity of the phenotypes observed in lox morphants and indicate that in zebrafish, lysyl oxidase isoforms seem to exert specific and non-redundant functions.…”

Lysyl oxidase: an oxidative enzyme and effector of cell function

“…The ras-LOX connection has proved relevant to the maturation of Xenopus laevis oocytes, since microinjected LOX blocked the inducing effects of oncogenic Ha-ras and progesterone on embryonic development [63]. The course of differentiation of developing X. laevis embryos did not appear to be altered by incubating embryos with BAPN, although collagen fiber formation, as expected, was compromised by this inhibitor of LOX activity [64]. LOX or LOX-like enzymes also occur in Drosophila in which both Dmloxl-1 and Dmloxl-2 have been identified [23,65].…”

Lysyl Oxidase Is Predictive of Unfavorable Outcomes and Essential for Regulation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…LOX belongs to the LOX family, which comprises five different enzymes (lysyl oxidase, lysyl oxidase-like 1, lysyl oxidase-like 2, lysyl oxidase-like 3, and lysyl oxidase-like 4), some being identified as oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and regulators of cell growth [4][5][6]. LOX plays a key role in many physiological processes, such as extracellular matrix stabilization and bone formation [7].…”