The Caenorhabditis elegans gene ham-2 links Hox patterning to migration of the HSN motor neuron
AUTOR(ES)
Baum, Paul D.
FONTE
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
RESUMO
The Caenorhabditis elegans HSN motor neurons permit genetic analysis of neuronal development at single-cell resolution. The egl-5 Hox gene, which patterns the posterior of the embryo, is required for both early (embryonic) and late (larval) development of the HSN. Here we show that ham-2 encodes a zinc finger protein that acts downstream of egl-5 to direct HSN cell migration, an early differentiation event. We also demonstrate that the EGL-43 zinc finger protein, also required for HSN migration, is expressed in the HSN specifically during its migration. In an egl-5 mutant background, the HSN still expresses EGL-43, but expression is no longer down-regulated at the end of the cell’s migration. Finally, we find a new role in early HSN differentiation for UNC-86, a POU homeodomain transcription factor shown previously to act downstream of egl-5 in the regulation of late HSN differentiation. In an unc-86; ham-2 double mutant the HSNs are defective in EGL-43 down-regulation, an egl-5-like phenotype that is absent in either single mutant. Thus, in the HSN, a Hox gene, egl-5, regulates cell fate by activating the transcription of genes encoding the transcription factors HAM-2 and UNC-86 that in turn individually control some differentiation events and combinatorially affect others.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=316472Documentos Relacionados
- The Caenorhabditis elegans APC-related gene apr-1 is required for epithelial cell migration and Hox gene expression
- Caenorhabditis elegans embryonic axial patterning requires two recently discovered posterior-group Hox genes
- Interacting Genes Required for Pharyngeal Excitation by Motor Neuron Mc in Caenorhabditis Elegans
- UNC-4/UNC-37-dependent repression of motor neuron-specific genes controls synaptic choice in Caenorhabditis elegans
- Pag-3, a Caenorhabditis Elegans Gene Involved in Touch Neuron Gene Expression and Coordinated Movement