title: Synaptic neurotransmission protein UNC-13 affects RNA interference in neurons.
abstract: Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-13 is an integral component of the synaptic vesicle cycle, functioning in the priming step. A recent yeast two-hybrid screen against UNC-13 identified three interacting proteins that are thought to function in pathways other than neurotransmitter release. One such protein, ERI-1, negatively regulates exogenous RNA interference in the nervous system and other tissues. This study investigates a role for UNC-13 in RNAi through analysis of RNAi penetrance in unc-13 and eri-1 mutant strains. Feeding these strains double stranded RNA corresponding to a neuronally expressed GFP reporter resulted in a significant reduction of GFP in double mutants compared to GFP expression in eri-1 mutants, indicating that UNC-13 functions in conjunction with ERI-1 in RNAi. There is no evidence for altered neurotransmission in eri-1 mutants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 19426, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chapin
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kohn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D005095:Exoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D034622:RNA Interference / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C083141:phorbol ester binding protein; C482202:ERI-1 protein, C elegans; D005095:Exoribonucleases