N-ethylmaleimide sensitive factor is required for fusion of the C. elegans uterine anchor cell.
The fusion of the Caenorhabditis elegans uterine anchor cell (AC) with the uterine-seam cell (utse) is an excellent model system for studying cell-cell fusion, which is essential to animal development. We obtained an egg-laying defective (Egl) mutant in which the AC fails to fuse with the utse. This defect is highly specific: other aspects of utse development and other cell fusions appear to occur normally. We find that defect is due to a missense mutation in the nsf-1 gene, which encodes N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF), an intracellular membrane fusion factor. There are two NSF-1 isoforms, which are expressed in distinct tissues through two separate promoters. NSF-1L is expressed in the uterus, including the AC. We find that nsf-1 is required cell-autonomously in the AC for its fusion with the utse. Our results establish AC fusion as a paradigm for studying cell fusion at single cell resolution and demonstrate that the NSF ATPase is a key player in this process.
Choi
Jaebok
J
Verna and Marrs Maclean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Richards
Keri L
KL
Cinar
Hediye Nese
HN
Newman
Anna P
AP
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002459:Cell Fusion; D005033:Ethylmaleimide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D052066:N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Proteins / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010641:Phenotype; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014599:Uterus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C470734:EFF-1 protein, C elegans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C498732:comt protein, Drosophila; D052066:N-Ethylmaleimide-Sensitive Proteins; D005033:Ethylmaleimide