title: FOS-1 promotes basement-membrane removal during anchor-cell invasion in C. elegans.
abstract: Cell invasion through basement membranes is crucial during morphogenesis and cancer metastasis. Here, we genetically dissect this process during anchor-cell invasion into the vulval epithelium in C. elegans. We have identified the fos transcription factor ortholog fos-1 as a critical regulator of basement-membrane removal. In fos-1 mutants, the gonadal anchor cell extends cellular processes normally toward vulval cells, but these processes fail to remove the basement membranes separating the gonad from the vulval epithelium. fos-1 is expressed in the anchor cell and controls invasion cell autonomously. We have identified ZMP-1, a membrane-type matrix metalloproteinase, CDH-3, a Fat-like protocadherin, and hemicentin, a fibulin family extracellular matrix protein, as transcriptional targets of FOS-1 that promote invasion. These results reveal a key genetic network that controls basement-membrane removal during cell invasion.
authors.affiliation: HHMI and Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Sternberg
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014844:Vulva / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos