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Updated: Sep 10, 2026

Measurements of Physiological Stress Responses in C. Elegans
Published on: May 21, 2020
ER-to-Golgi transport machinery promotes the excessive cargo-triggered unfolded protein response in C. elegans
Liying Guan1,2, Tong Zhang1,2,3, Zhigao Zhan2
1State Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Regulation in Complex Organization, Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Abstract:
Disruption of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) homeostasis activates the unfolded protein response (UPR) to restore proteostasis. Although defects in the secretory machinery can induce ER stress, whether specific trafficking components actively couple cargo handling to UPR signaling remains unclear. Here, using Caenorhabditis elegans genetics, imaging, and biochemical assays, we show that neuronal overexpression of the gap junction protein UNC-9 cell-autonomously activates the IRE-1-XBP-1 branch of the ER UPR. Loss of the early secretory pathway proteins ERGI-2 or ERGI-3 suppresses this response and disrupts UNC-9 localization, revealing functions for these proteins that extend beyond cargo trafficking. ERGI-2 and ERGI-3 interact with both UNC-9 and the ER chaperone HSP-4/BiP, suggesting that they couple the handling of excessive UNC-9 to UPR activation. This requirement is cargo-selective: ERGI-2 and ERGI-3 are dispensable for UPR activation induced by overexpression of another innexin, UNC-7, or unrelated proteins. Moreover, activation of the IRE-1-XBP-1 pathway reduces abnormal UNC-9 accumulation in ergi-2 and ergi-3 mutants. Together, our findings identify ER-to-Golgi trafficking proteins as cargo-selective regulators that link secretory-pathway demand to adaptive UPR.
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