The zinc finger protein REF-2 functions with the Hox genes to inhibit cell fusion in the ventral epidermis of C. elegans

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (14) ◽  
pp. 3335-3348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Alper ◽  
Cynthia Kenyon
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fusion ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Hox Proteins ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Inhibit Cell Fusion ◽  
Cell Fusions ◽  
Transcriptional Target

During larval development in C. elegans, some of the cells of the ventral epidermis, the Pn.p cells, fuse with the growing epidermal syncytium hyp7. The pattern of these cell fusions is regulated in a complex, sexually dimorphic manner. It is essential that some Pn.p cells remain unfused in order for some sex-specific mating structures to be generated. The pattern of Pn.p cell fusion is regulated combinatorially by two genes of the C. elegans Hox gene cluster: lin-39 and mab-5. Some of the complexity in the Pn.p cell fusion pattern arises because these two Hox proteins can regulate each other’s activities. We describe a zinc-finger transcription factor, REF-2, that is required for the Pn.p cells to be generated and to remain unfused. REF-2 functions with the Hox proteins to prevent Pn.p cell fusion. ref-2 may also be a transcriptional target of the Hox proteins.

egl-27 generates anteroposterior patterns of cell fusion in C. elegans by regulating Hox gene expression and Hox protein function

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (15) ◽  
pp. 3303-3312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Ch'ng ◽  
C. Kenyon
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Fusion ◽  
Protein Function ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Positional Information ◽  
Cell Fates ◽  
Hox Proteins ◽  
Hox Gene ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Hox Protein

Hox genes pattern the fates of the ventral ectodermal Pn.p cells that lie along the anteroposterior (A/P) body axis of C. elegans. In these cells, the Hox genes are expressed in sequential overlapping domains where they control the ability of each Pn.p cell to fuse with the surrounding syncytial epidermis. The activities of Hox proteins are sex-specific in this tissue, resulting in sex-specific patterns of cell fusion: in hermaphrodites, the mid-body cells remain unfused, whereas in males, alternating domains of syncytial and unfused cells develop. We have found that the gene egl-27, which encodes a C. elegans homologue of a chromatin regulatory factor, specifies these patterns by regulating both Hox gene expression and Hox protein function. In egl-27 mutants, the expression domains of Hox genes in these cells are shifted posteriorly, suggesting that egl-27 influences A/P positional information. In addition, egl-27 controls Hox protein function in the Pn.p cells in two ways: in hermaphrodites it inhibits MAB-5 activity, whereas in males it permits a combinatorial interaction between LIN-39 and MAB-5. Thus, by selectively modifying the activities of Hox proteins, egl-27 elaborates a simple Hox expression pattern into complex patterns of cell fates. Taken together, these results implicate egl-27 in the diversification of cell fates along the A/P axis and suggest that chromatin reorganization is necessary for controlling Hox gene expression and Hox protein function.

Homeotic response elements are tightly linked to tissue-specific elements in a transcriptional enhancer of the teashirt gene

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (9) ◽  
pp. 2799-2812 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. McCormick ◽  
N. Core ◽  
S. Kerridge ◽  
M.P. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Transcriptional Enhancer ◽  
Hox Proteins ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Conserved Sequences

Along the anterior-posterior axis of animal embryos, the choice of cell fates, and the organization of morphogenesis, is regulated by transcription factors encoded by clustered homeotic or ‘Hox’ genes. Hox genes function in both epidermis and internal tissues by regulating the transcription of target genes in a position- and tissue-specific manner. Hox proteins can have distinct targets in different tissues; the mechanisms underlying tissue and homeotic protein specificity are unknown. Light may be shed by studying the organization of target gene enhancers. In flies, one of the target genes is teashirt (tsh), which encodes a zinc finger protein. tsh itself is a homeotic gene that controls trunk versus head development. We identified a tsh gene enhancer that is differentially activated by Hox proteins in epidermis and mesoderm. Sites where Antennapedia (Antp) and Ultrabithorax (Ubx) proteins bind in vitro were mapped within evolutionarily conserved sequences. Although Antp and Ubx bind to identical sites in vitro, Antp activates the tsh enhancer only in epidermis while Ubx activates the tsh enhancer in both epidermis and in somatic mesoderm. We show that the DNA elements driving tissue-specific transcriptional activation by Antp and Ubx are separable. Next to the homeotic protein-binding sites are extensive conserved sequences likely to control tissue activation by different homeodomain proteins. We propose that local interactions between homeotic proteins and other factors effect activation of targets in proper cell types.

scholarly journals LIN-39 and the EGFR/RAS/MAPK pathway regulate C. elegans vulval morphogenesis via the VAB-23 zinc finger protein

Development ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 138 (21) ◽  
pp. 4649-4660 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. W. Pellegrino ◽  
S. Farooqui ◽  
E. Frohli ◽  
H. Rehrauer ◽  
S. Kaeser-Pebernard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Mapk Pathway ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Finger Protein

scholarly journals REF-1, a protein with two bHLH domains, alters the pattern of cell fusion in C. elegans by regulating Hox protein activity

Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (10) ◽  
pp. 1793-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alper ◽  
C. Kenyon
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Cell Fusion ◽  
Hox Genes ◽  
Body Axis ◽  
Body Region ◽  
Protein Activity ◽  
Cell Fate Decisions ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Helix Loop Helix ◽  
Body Regions

Hox genes control the choice of cell fates along the anteroposterior (AP) body axis of many organisms. In C. elegans, two Hox genes, lin-39 and mab-5, control the cell fusion decision of the 12 ventrally located Pn.p cells. Specific Pn.p cells fuse with an epidermal syncytium, hyp7, in a sexually dimorphic pattern. In hermaphrodites, Pn.p cells in the mid-body region remain unfused whereas in males, Pn.p cells adopt an alternating pattern of syncytial and unfused fates. The complexity of these fusion patterns arises because the activities of these two Hox proteins are regulated in a sex-specific manner. MAB-5 activity is inhibited in hermaphrodite Pn.p cells and thus MAB-5 normally only affects the male Pn.p fusion pattern. Here we identify a gene, ref-1, that regulates the hermaphrodite Pn.p cell fusion pattern largely by regulating MAB-5 activity in these cells. Mutation of ref-1 also affects the fate of other epidermal cells in distinct AP body regions. ref-1 encodes a protein with two basic helix-loop-helix domains distantly related to those of the hairy/Enhancer of split family. ref-1, and another hairy homolog, lin-22, regulate similar cell fate decisions in different body regions along the C. elegans AP body axis.

TRA-1A regulates transcription of fog-3, which controls germ cell fate in C. elegans

Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (14) ◽  
pp. 3119-3129 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Chen ◽  
R.E. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Regulation ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Germ Cells ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Finger Protein

In C. elegans, the zinc-finger protein TRA-1A is thought to be the final arbiter of somatic sexual identity. We show that fog-3, which is required for germ cells to become sperm rather than oocytes, is a target of TRA-1A. First, northern analyses and RT-PCR experiments indicate that expression of fog-3 is controlled by tra-1. Second, studies of double mutants show that this control could be direct. Third, the fog-3 promoter contains multiple sites that bind TRA-1A in gel shift assays, and mutations in these sites alter activity of fog-3 in vivo. These results establish fog-3 as one of the first known targets of transcriptional regulation by TRA-1A. Furthermore, they show that tra-1 controls a terminal regulator of sexual fate in germ cells, just as it is thought to do in the soma.

scholarly journals The C. elegans HP1 homologue HPL-2 and the LIN-13 zinc finger protein form a complex implicated in vulval development

2006 ◽  
Vol 297 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Coustham ◽  
Cécile Bedet ◽  
Karine Monier ◽  
Sonia Schott ◽  
Marianthi Karali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Vulval Development ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Finger Protein

scholarly journals C. elegans PAT-9 is a nuclear zinc finger protein critical for the assembly of muscle attachments

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Liu ◽  
Takako I Jones ◽  
Rebecca A Bachmann ◽  
Mitchell Meghpara ◽  
Lauren Rogowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Finger Protein
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