title: AP-1 is required for the maintenance of apico-basal polarity in the C. elegans intestine.
abstract: Epithelial tubes perform functions that are essential for the survival of multicellular organisms. Understanding how their polarised features are maintained is therefore crucial. By analysing the function of the clathrin adaptor AP-1 in the C. elegans intestine, we found that AP-1 is required for epithelial polarity maintenance. Depletion of AP-1 subunits does not affect epithelial polarity establishment or the formation of the intestinal lumen. However, the loss of AP-1 affects the polarised distribution of both apical and basolateral transmembrane proteins. Moreover, it triggers de novo formation of ectopic apical lumens between intestinal cells along the lateral membranes later during embryogenesis. We also found that AP-1 is specifically required for the apical localisation of the small GTPase CDC-42 and the polarity determinant PAR-6. Our results demonstrate that AP-1 controls an apical trafficking pathway required for the maintenance of epithelial polarity in vivo in a tubular epithelium.
authors.affiliation: INSERM Avenir Group, F-35043 Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Massiullah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shafaq-Zadah
authors.forename: Lysiane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brocard
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Solari
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Michaux
mesh_terms: D033961:Adaptor Protein Complex 1 / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D034622:RNA Interference; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D033961:Adaptor Protein Complex 1; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C512642:par-6 protein, C elegans; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein