title: Early embryonic induction in C. elegans can be inhibited with polysulfated hydrocarbon dyes.
abstract: During embryogenesis of Caenorhabditis elegans cellular interactions are necessary to determine the fate of blastomeres. In one of these interactions, taking place in the 4-cell stage, the germline cell P2 induces longitudinal orientation of the cleavage spindle in the neighboring EMS cell, its asymmetric division, and the establishment of a gut lineage. Application of several polysulfated hydrocarbon dyes (e.g., trypan blue, TB) in the 1- to 4-cell stages inhibits induction of the gut precursor cell. However, dye application from the late 4-cell stage onward does not interfere with gut induction, supporting the earlier finding of a short time window for this interaction. We also tested the effect of TB on the induction of pharyngeal muscle cells by the MS blastomere, which appears to involve a surface receptor-ligand interaction. We found that this process is inhibited as well. These and additional data indicate that polysulfated hydrocarbon dyes are suitable tools to generally interfere with cell-cell interactions in the nematode embryo.
authors.affiliation: Zoologisches Institut, Universität Koln, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bossinger
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schierenberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000187:drug effects*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology; D014343:Trypan Blue / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D014343:Trypan Blue