Sticky worms: adhesion complexes in C. elegans.
Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model system for investigating the establishment, regulation and function of adhesive structures in vivo. C. elegans has several adhesion complexes related to those in vertebrates. These include: (1) epithelial apical junctions, which have features of both adherens and tight junctions; (2) dense bodies, which are muscle-attachment structures similar to focal adhesions; (3) fibrous organelles, which resemble hemidesmosomes and mediate mechanical coupling between tissues; and (4) a putative dystrophin-glycoprotein complex that has potential roles in muscle function and embryogenesis. Recent work has increased our understanding of these structures and has given new insights into the functions of their vertebrate counterparts.
Cox
Elisabeth A
EA
Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, 1117 W. Johnson Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA. eacox@wisc.edu
Hardin
Jeff
J
D022005:Adherens Junctions; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila; D016189:Dystrophin / Q000378:metabolism; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016023:Integrins / Q000378:metabolism; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D051176:beta Catenin
D015820:Cadherins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D016189:Dystrophin; D006023:Glycoproteins; D016023:Integrins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin