title: Precise regulation of the guidance receptor DMA-1 by KPC-1/Furin instructs dendritic branching decisions.
abstract: Extracellular adhesion molecules and their neuronal receptors guide the growth and branching of axons and dendrites. Growth cones are attracted to intermediate targets, but they must switch their response upon arrival so that they can move away and complete the next stage of growth. Here, we show that KPC-1, a C. elegans Furin homolog, regulates the level of the branching receptor DMA-1 on dendrites by targeting it to late endosomes. In kpc-1 mutants, the level of DMA-1 is abnormally high on dendrites, resulting in trapping of dendrites at locations where a high level of the cognate ligand, the adhesion molecule SAX-7/L1, is present. The misregulation of DMA-1 also causes dendritic self-avoidance defects. Thus, precise regulation of guidance receptors creates flexibility of responses to guidance signals and is critical for neuronal morphogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
authors.forename: Xintong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Yeonhee Jenny
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Engin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Özkan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, United States.
authors.forename: Chieh
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009024:Morphogenesis; D043484:Proprotein Convertases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C569907:DMA-1 protein, C elegans; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C000612602:KPC-1 protein, C elegans; D043484:Proprotein Convertases
keywords: <i>c. elegans</i>; dendrite; dendritic branching; developmental biology; furin; morphogenesis; neuroscience; receptor ligand interaction; skin neuron interaction; stem cells