C. elegans daf-6 encodes a patched-related protein required for lumen formation.
Sensory organs are often composed of neuronal sensory endings accommodated in a lumen formed by ensheathing epithelia or glia. Here we show that lumen formation in the C. elegans amphid sensory organ requires the gene daf-6. daf-6 encodes a Patched-related protein that localizes to the luminal surfaces of the amphid channel and other C. elegans tubes. While daf-6 mutants display only amphid lumen defects, animals defective for both daf-6 and the Dispatched gene che-14 exhibit defects in all tubular structures that express daf-6. Furthermore, DAF-6 protein is mislocalized, and lumen morphogenesis is abnormal, in mutants with defective sensory neuron endings. We propose that amphid lumen morphogenesis is coordinated by neuron-derived cues and a DAF-6/CHE-14 system that regulates vesicle dynamics during tubulogenesis.
Perens
Elliot A
EA
Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Shaham
Shai
S
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission / Q000379:methods; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism; D014170:Transformation, Genetic / Q000502:physiology
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C502788:DAF-6 protein, C elegans; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins