Genetically targeted cell disruption in Caenorhabditis elegans.
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.
Harbinder
S
S
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Piscataway 08855, USA.
Tavernarakis
N
N
Herndon
L A
LA
Kinnell
M
M
Xu
S Q
SQ
Fire
A
A
Driscoll
M
M
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000166:cytology; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000166:cytology
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018509:DNA, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins; C115871:Mec-4 protein, C elegans; D008565:Membrane Proteins