title: The growth factor SVH-1 regulates axon regeneration in C. elegans via the JNK MAPK cascade.
abstract: The ability of neurons to undergo regenerative growth after injury is governed by cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic regeneration pathways. These pathways represent potential targets for therapies to enhance regeneration. However, the signaling pathways that orchestrate axon regeneration are not well understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAP kinase (MAPK) pathways are important for axon regeneration. We found that the C. elegans SVH-1 growth factor and its receptor, SVH-2 tyrosine kinase, regulate axon regeneration. Loss of SVH-1-SVH-2 signaling resulted in a substantial defect in the ability of neurons to regenerate, whereas its activation improved regeneration. Furthermore, SVH-1-SVH-2 signaling was initiated extrinsically by a pair of sensory neurons and functioned upstream of the JNK-MAPK pathway. Thus, SVH-1-SVH-2 signaling via activation of the MAPK pathway acts to coordinate neuron regeneration response after axon injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hisamoto
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nix
authors.forename: Shuka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanao
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bastiani
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001369:Axons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C572121:SVH-1 protein, C elegans; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases