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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Large-scale Gene Knockdown in C. elegans Using dsRNA Feeding Libraries to Generate Robust Loss-of-function Phenotypes
Published on: September 25, 2013
The unc-53 gene negatively regulates rac GTPases to inhibit unc-5 activity during Distal tip cell migrations in C.
Amita Pandey1, Vipul Yadav2, Aditi Sharma1
1a Department of Plant Molecular Biology , University of Delhi South Campus , New Delhi , India.
Abstract:
The unc-53/NAV2 gene encodes for an adaptor protein required for cell migrations along the anteroposterior (AP) axes of C. elegans. This study identifies unc-53 as a novel component of signaling pathways regulating Distal tip cell (DTC) migrations along the AP and dorsoventral (DV) axes. unc-53 negatively regulates and functions downstream of ced-10/Rac pathway genes; ced-10/Rac and mig-2/RhoG, which are required for proper DTC migration. Moreover, unc-53 exhibits genetic interaction with abl-1 and unc-5, the 2 known negative regulators of ced-10/Rac signaling. Our genetic analysis supports the model, where abl-1 negatively regulates unc-53 during DTC migrations and requirement of unc-53 function during both AP and DV DTC migrations could be due to unc-53 mediated regulation of unc-5 activity.
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