title: A Wnt-Frz/Ror-Dsh pathway regulates neurite outgrowth in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: One of the challenges to understand the organization of the nervous system has been to determine how axon guidance molecules govern axon outgrowth. Through an unbiased genetic screen, we identified a conserved Wnt pathway which is crucial for anterior-posterior (A/P) outgrowth of neurites from RME head motor neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans. The pathway is composed of the Wnt ligand CWN-2, the Frizzled receptors CFZ-2 and MIG-1, the co-receptor CAM-1/Ror, and the downstream component Dishevelled/DSH-1. Among these, CWN-2 acts as a local attractive cue for neurite outgrowth, and its activity can be partially substituted with other Wnts, suggesting that spatial distribution plays a role in the functional specificity of Wnts. As a co-receptor, CAM-1 functions cell-autonomously in neurons and, together with CFZ-2 and MIG-1, transmits the Wnt signal to downstream effectors. Yeast two-hybrid screening identified DSH-1 as a binding partner for CAM-1, indicating that CAM-1 could facilitate CWN-2/Wnt signaling by its physical association with DSH-1. Our study reveals an important role of a Wnt-Frz/Ror-Dsh pathway in regulating neurite A/P outgrowth.
authors: Key Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Song
authors: S
authors: Song
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Zhang
authors: Hui
authors: H
authors: Sun
authors: Xia
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Yanhui
authors: Y
authors: Xiang
authors: Zhonghua
authors: Z
authors: Liu
authors: Xun
authors: X
authors: Huang
authors: Mei
authors: M
authors: Ding
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072261:Dishevelled Proteins; D051157:Frizzled Receptors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D016501:Neurites / Q000378:metabolism*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D057050:Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; C554443:CFZ-2 protein, C elegans; C544875:CWN-2 protein, C elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C569185:DSH-1 protein, C elegans; D000072261:Dishevelled Proteins; D051157:Frizzled Receptors; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C554442:Mig-1 protein, C elegans; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; C526267:CAM-1 protein, C elegans; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D057050:Receptor Tyrosine Kinase-like Orphan Receptors