Genetically targeted cell disruption in Caenorhabditis elegans
AUTOR(ES)
Harbinder, S.
FONTE
The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
RESUMO
The elimination of identified cells is a powerful tool for investigating development and system function. Here we report on genetically mediated cell disruption effected by the toxic Caenorhabditis elegans mec-4(d) allele. We found that ectopic expression of mec-4(d) in the nematode causes dysfunction of a wide range of nerve, muscle, and hypodermal cells. mec-4(d)-mediated toxicity is dependent on the activity of a second gene, mec-6, rendering cell disruption conditionally dependent on genetic background. We describe a set of mec-4(d) vectors that facilitate construction of cell-specific disruption reagents and note that genetic cell disruption can be used for functional analyses of specific neurons or neuronal classes, for confirmation of neuronal circuitry, for generation of nematode populations lacking defined classes of functional cells, and for genetic screens. We suggest that mec-4(d) and/or related genes may be effective general tools for cell inactivation that could be used toward similar purposes in higher organisms.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=24274Documentos Relacionados
- Alteration of Caenorhabditis elegans gene expression by targeted transformation.
- Daf-2, Daf-16 and Daf-23: Genetically Interacting Genes Controlling Dauer Formation in Caenorhabditis Elegans
- The Caenorhabditis elegans unc-64 Locus Encodes a Syntaxin That Interacts Genetically with Synaptobrevin
- Duplications in CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS
- Aging can be genetically dissected into component processes using long-lived lines of Caenorhabditis elegans.