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Published on: April 24, 2021
Synaptic neurotransmission protein UNC-13 affects RNA interference in neurons
Alexander Chapin1, Paola Correa, Meghan Maguire
1Department of Biology, Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA 19426, USA.
Abstract:
Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-13 is an integral component of the synaptic vesicle cycle, functioning in the priming step. A recent yeast two-hybrid screen against UNC-13 identified three interacting proteins that are thought to function in pathways other than neurotransmitter release. One such protein, ERI-1, negatively regulates exogenous RNA interference in the nervous system and other tissues. This study investigates a role for UNC-13 in RNAi through analysis of RNAi penetrance in unc-13 and eri-1 mutant strains. Feeding these strains double stranded RNA corresponding to a neuronally expressed GFP reporter resulted in a significant reduction of GFP in double mutants compared to GFP expression in eri-1 mutants, indicating that UNC-13 functions in conjunction with ERI-1 in RNAi. There is no evidence for altered neurotransmission in eri-1 mutants.
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