MIG-13 positions migrating cells along the anteroposterior body axis of C. elegans.
The C. elegans Q neuroblasts and their descendants migrate along the anteroposterior (A/P) body axis to positions that are not associated with any obvious landmarks. We find that a novel protein, MIG-13, is required to position these cells correctly. MIG-13 is a transmembrane protein whose expression is restricted to the anterior and central body regions by Hox gene activity. MIG-13 functions non-cell autonomously within these regions to promote migration toward the anterior: loss of mig-13 activity shifts the Q descendants toward the posterior, whereas increasing the level of MIG-13 shifts them anteriorly in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings suggest that MIG-13 is a component of a global A/P migration system, and that the level of MIG-13 determines where along the body axis these migrating cells stop.
Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, 94143-0554, USA.
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D019521:Body Patterning; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002465:Cell Movement; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009030:Mosaicism; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010641:Phenotype; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; C120452:MIG-13 protein, Caenorhabditis elegans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins