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Ezhil Buvani AP, Subramaniam K. The C. elegans gene gvd-1 promotes late larval development and germ cell proliferation. Biol Open 2023; 12:bio059978. [PMID: 37310364 PMCID: PMC10320718 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Limiting maternal resources necessitates deferring the development of adult-specific structures, notably the reproductive structures, to the postembryonic phase. These structures form postembryonically from blast cells generated during embryogenesis. A close coordination of developmental timing and pattern among the various postembryonic cell lineages is essential to form a functional adult. Here, we show that the C. elegans gene gvd-1 is essential for the development of several structures that form during the late larval stages. In gvd-1 mutant animals, blast cells that normally divide during the late larval stages (L3 and L4) fail to divide. In addition, germ cell proliferation is also severely reduced in these animals. Expression patterns of relevant reporter transgenes revealed a delay in G1/S transition in the vulval precursor cell P6.p and cytokinesis failure in seam cells in gvd-1 larvae. Our analyses of GVD-1::GFP transgenes indicate that GVD-1 is expressed in both soma and germ line, and functions in both. Sequence comparisons revealed that the sequence of gvd-1 is conserved only among nematodes, which does not support a broadly conserved housekeeping function for gvd-1. Instead, our results indicate a crucial role for gvd-1 that is specific to the larval development of nematodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anbalagan Pon Ezhil Buvani
- Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology–Madras, Chennai 600036, India
- Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India
| | - Kuppuswamy Subramaniam
- Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208016, India
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Johnson CA, Behbehani R, Buss F. Unconventional Myosins from Caenorhabditis elegans as a Probe to Study Human Orthologues. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12121889. [PMID: 36551317 PMCID: PMC9775386 DOI: 10.3390/biom12121889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Unconventional myosins are a superfamily of actin-based motor proteins that perform a number of roles in fundamental cellular processes, including (but not limited to) intracellular trafficking, cell motility, endocytosis, exocytosis and cytokinesis. 40 myosins genes have been identified in humans, which belong to different 12 classes based on their domain structure and organisation. These genes are widely expressed in different tissues, and mutations leading to loss of function are associated with a wide variety of pathologies while over-expression often results in cancer. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a small, free-living, non-parasitic nematode. ~38% of the genome of C. elegans has predicted orthologues in the human genome, making it a valuable tool to study the function of human counterparts and human diseases. To date, 8 unconventional myosin genes have been identified in the nematode, from 6 different classes with high homology to human paralogues. The hum-1 and hum-5 (heavy chain of an unconventional myosin) genes encode myosin of class I, hum-2 of class V, hum-3 and hum-8 of class VI, hum-6 of class VII and hum-7 of class IX. The hum-4 gene encodes a high molecular mass myosin (307 kDa) that is one of the most highly divergent myosins and is a member of class XII. Mutations in many of the human orthologues are lethal, indicating their essential properties. However, a functional characterisation for many of these genes in C. elegans has not yet been performed. This article reviews the current knowledge of unconventional myosin genes in C. elegans and explores the potential use of the nematode to study the function and regulation of myosin motors to provide valuable insights into their role in diseases.
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Katz SS, Barker TJ, Maul-Newby HM, Sparacio AP, Nguyen KCQ, Maybrun CL, Belfi A, Cohen JD, Hall DH, Sundaram MV, Frand AR. A transient apical extracellular matrix relays cytoskeletal patterns to shape permanent acellular ridges on the surface of adult C. elegans. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010348. [PMID: 35960773 PMCID: PMC9401183 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Epithelial cells secrete apical extracellular matrices to form protruding structures such as denticles, ridges, scales, or teeth. The mechanisms that shape these structures remain poorly understood. Here, we show how the actin cytoskeleton and a provisional matrix work together to sculpt acellular longitudinal alae ridges in the cuticle of adult C. elegans. Transient assembly of longitudinal actomyosin filaments in the underlying lateral epidermis accompanies deposition of the provisional matrix at the earliest stages of alae formation. Actin is required to pattern the provisional matrix into longitudinal bands that are initially offset from the pattern of longitudinal actin filaments. These bands appear ultrastructurally as alternating regions of adhesion and separation within laminated provisional matrix layers. The provisional matrix is required to establish these demarcated zones of adhesion and separation, which ultimately give rise to alae ridges and their intervening valleys, respectively. Provisional matrix proteins shape the alae ridges and valleys but are not present within the final structure. We propose a morphogenetic mechanism wherein cortical actin patterns are relayed to the laminated provisional matrix to set up distinct zones of matrix layer separation and accretion that shape a permanent and acellular matrix structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie S. Katz
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Trevor J. Barker
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Hannah M. Maul-Newby
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Alessandro P. Sparacio
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Ken C. Q. Nguyen
- Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Chloe L. Maybrun
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Alexandra Belfi
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Jennifer D. Cohen
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - David H. Hall
- Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Meera V. Sundaram
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Alison R. Frand
- Department of Biological Chemistry, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
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Tan L, Yuan X, Liu Y, Cai X, Guo S, Wang A. Non-muscle Myosin II: Role in Microbial Infection and Its Potential as a Therapeutic Target. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:401. [PMID: 30886609 PMCID: PMC6409350 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Currently, the major measures of preventing and controlling microbial infection are vaccinations and drugs. However, the appearance of drug resistance microbial mounts is main obstacle in current anti-microbial therapy. One of the most ubiquitous actin-binding proteins, non-muscle myosin II (NM II) plays a crucial role in a wide range of cellular physiological activities in mammals, including cell adhesion, migration, and division. Nowadays, growing evidence indicates that aberrant expression or activity of NM II can be detected in many diseases caused by microbes, including viruses and bacteria. Furthermore, an important role for NM II in the infection of some microbes is verified. Importantly, modulating the expression of NM II with small hairpin RNA (shRNA) or the activity of it by inhibitors can affect microbial-triggered phenotypes. Therefore, NM II holds the promise to be a potential target for inhibiting the infection of microbes and even treating microbial-triggered discords. In spite of these, a comprehensive view on the functions of NM II in microbial infection and the regulators which have an impact on the roles of NM II in this context, is still lacking. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge on the roles of NM II in microbial-triggered discords and provide broad insights into its regulators. In addition, the existing challenge of investigating the multiple roles of NM II in microbial infection and developing NM II inhibitors for treating these microbial-triggered discords, are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Tan
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering in Animal Vaccines, Research and Development Center for Animal Reverse Vaccinology of Hunan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiaomin Yuan
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering in Animal Vaccines, Research and Development Center for Animal Reverse Vaccinology of Hunan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
| | - Yisong Liu
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering in Animal Vaccines, Research and Development Center for Animal Reverse Vaccinology of Hunan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiong Cai
- Institute of Innovation and Applied Research in Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Shiyin Guo
- College of Food Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
| | - Aibing Wang
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Protein Engineering in Animal Vaccines, Research and Development Center for Animal Reverse Vaccinology of Hunan Province, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
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