SEK-1 MAPKK mediates Ca2+ signaling to determine neuronal asymmetric development in Caenorhabditis elegans.
The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is a highly conserved signaling cascade that converts extracellular signals into various outputs. In Caenorhabditis elegans, asymmetric expression of the candidate odorant receptor STR-2 in either the left or the right of two bilaterally symmetrical olfactory AWC neurons is regulated by axon contact and Ca2+ signaling. We show that the MAPK kinase (MAPKK) SEK-1 is required for asymmetric expression in AWC neurons. Genetic and biochemical analyses reveal that SEK-1 functions in a pathway downstream of UNC-43 and NSY-1, Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), respectively. Thus, the NSY-1-SEK-1-MAPK cascade is activated by Ca2+ signaling through CaMKII and establishes asymmetric cell fate decision during neuronal development.
Tanaka-Hino
Miho
M
Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University (and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation), Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
Sagasti
Alvaro
A
Hisamoto
Naoki
N
Kawasaki
Masato
M
Nakano
Shunji
S
Ninomiya-Tsuji
Jun
J
Bargmann
Cornelia I
CI
Matsumoto
Kunihiro
K
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006801:Humans; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D020930:MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; C482559:MAP2K4 protein, human; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases