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Regulation of UNC-130/FOXD-mediated mesodermal patterning in C. elegans.
Rossio K Kersey1, Thomas M Brodigan1, Tetsunari Fukushige1
1Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
UNC-130/FOXD protein establishes spatial polarity in Caenorhabditis elegans by regulating UNC-129/TGF-β expression in body wall muscles during development. Its activity is restricted ventrally, creating dorsal-ventral differences essential for developmental cues.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Spatial polarity is crucial for animal development, guiding processes like cell fate and migration.
- In C. elegans, body wall muscles exhibit dorsal-ventral asymmetry in UNC-129/TGF-β signaling.
- UNC-130/FOXD acts as a transcriptional repressor, with its activity localized to ventral muscle quadrants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms controlling UNC-130/FOXD expression and protein distribution.
- To understand how UNC-130/FOXD establishes and maintains dorsal-ventral differences in muscle gene expression.
- To identify additional factors influencing UNC-130/FOXD-mediated polarity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of cis-acting elements within the unc-130 promoter.
- Temporal profiling of UNC-130 protein localization during embryogenesis.
- Functional assays involving transcription factor depletion and signaling molecule manipulation.
Main Results:
- Identified cis-acting elements in the unc-130 promoter that confer ventral-specific expression and repress dorsal expression.
- Demonstrated UNC-130 protein's temporal pattern is essential for establishing UNC-129/TGF-β dorsal-ventral polarity.
- Confirmed UNC-130 is not required for post-embryonic maintenance of unc-129 expression asymmetry.
Conclusions:
- UNC-130/FOXD activity is precisely regulated transcriptionally and temporally to establish muscle polarity.
- This study clarifies the role of UNC-130/FOXD in generating developmental polarity cues.
- Findings contribute to understanding the transcriptional logic of polarity generation by Forkhead factors.
