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Updated: Aug 30, 2026
In Vivo Calcium Imaging in C. elegans Body Wall Muscles
Published on: October 20, 2019
sup-9, sup-10, and unc-93 may encode components of a two-pore K+ channel that coordinates muscle contraction in
Ignacio Perez de la Cruz1, Joshua Z Levin, Claudia Cummins
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Biology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Genetic studies of sup-9, unc-93, and sup-10 strongly suggest that these genes encode components of a multi-subunit protein complex that coordinates muscle contraction in Caenorhabditis elegans. We cloned sup-9 and sup-10 and found that they encode a two-pore K+ channel and a novel transmembrane protein, respectively. We also found that UNC-93 and SUP-10 colocalize with SUP-9 within muscle cells, and that UNC-93 is a member of a novel multigene family that is conserved among C. elegans, Drosophila, and humans. Our results indicate that SUP-9 and perhaps other two-pore K+ channels function as multiprotein complexes, and that UNC-93 and SUP-10 likely define new classes of ion channel regulatory proteins.
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