首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献,搜索用时 31 毫秒
1.
The unfolded protein response (UPR), which is activated when unfolded or misfolded proteins accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum, has been implicated in the normal physiology of immune defense and in several human diseases, including diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and inflammatory disease. In this study, we found that the nervous system controlled the activity of a noncanonical UPR pathway required for innate immunity in Caenorhabditis elegans. OCTR-1, a putative octopamine G protein-coupled catecholamine receptor (GPCR, G protein-coupled receptor), functioned in sensory neurons designated ASH and ASI to actively suppress innate immune responses by down-regulating the expression of noncanonical UPR genes pqn/abu in nonneuronal tissues. Our findings suggest a molecular mechanism by which the nervous system may sense inflammatory responses and respond by controlling stress-response pathways at the organismal level.  相似文献   

2.
Electrical activity in neurons is generally initiated in dendritic processes then propagated along axons to synapses, where it is passed to other neurons. Major structural features of neurons-their dendrites and axons-are thus related to their fundamental functions: the receipt and transmission of information. The acquisition of these distinct properties by dendrites and axons, called polarization, is a critical step in neuronal differentiation. We show here that SAD-A and SAD-B, mammalian orthologs of a kinase needed for presynaptic differentiation in Caenorhabditis elegans, are required for neuronal polarization. These kinases will provide entry points for unraveling signaling mechanisms that polarize neurons.  相似文献   

3.
Wang X  Yang C  Chai J  Shi Y  Xue D 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2002,298(5598):1587-1592
Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), a mitochondrial oxidoreductase, is released into the cytoplasm to induce cell death in response to apoptotic signals. However, the mechanisms underlying this process have not been resolved. We report that inactivation of the Caenorhabditis elegans AIF homolog wah-1 by RNA interference delayed the normal progression of apoptosis and caused a defect in apoptotic DNA degradation. WAH-1 localized in C. elegans mitochondria and was released into the cytosol and nucleus by the BH3-domain protein EGL-1 in a caspase (CED-3)-dependent manner. In addition, WAH-1 associated and cooperated with the mitochondrial endonuclease CPS-6/endonuclease G (EndoG) to promote DNA degradation and apoptosis. Thus, AIF and EndoG define a single, mitochondria-initiated apoptotic DNA degradation pathway that is conserved between C. elegans and mammals.  相似文献   

4.
In order to understand the nervous system, it is necessary to know the synaptic connections between the neurons, yet to date, only the wiring diagram of the adult hermaphrodite of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been determined. Here, we present the wiring diagram of the posterior nervous system of the C. elegans adult male, reconstructed from serial electron micrograph sections. This region of the male nervous system contains the sexually dimorphic circuits for mating. The synaptic connections, both chemical and gap junctional, form a neural network with four striking features: multiple, parallel, short synaptic pathways directly connecting sensory neurons to end organs; recurrent and reciprocal connectivity among sensory neurons; modular substructure; and interneurons acting in feedforward loops. These features help to explain how the network robustly and rapidly selects and executes the steps of a behavioral program on the basis of the inputs from multiple sensory neurons.  相似文献   

5.
Larval development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is controlled by the activities of four classes of chemosensory neurons. The choice between normal development and development into a specialized larval form called a dauer larva is regulated by competing environmental stimuli: food and a dauer pheromone. When the neuron classes ADF, ASG, ASI, and ASJ are killed, animals develop as dauer larvae regardless of environmental conditions. These neurons might sense food or dauer pheromone, or both, to initiate the specialized differentiation of many cell types that occurs during dauer formation. Entry into and exit from the dauer stage are primarily controlled by different chemosensory neurons. The analysis of mutants defective in dauer formation indicates that the chemosensory neurons are active in the absence of sensory inputs and that dauer pheromone inhibits the ability of these neurons to generate a signal necessary for normal development.  相似文献   

6.
7.
秀丽隐杆线虫研究综述   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
赵晴  蒋湉湉 《安徽农业科学》2010,38(19):10092-10093,10095
国内外对秀丽隐杆线虫的研究日益增多,秀丽隐杆线虫作为一种模式线虫在生命科学的发展过程中发挥着举足轻重的作用。对秀丽隐杆线虫的培养、研究进展等方面进行了简要的综述。  相似文献   

8.
Basement membranes can help determine pathways of migrating axons. Although members of the nidogen (entactin) protein family are structural components of basement membranes, we find that nidogen is not required for basement membrane assembly in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Nidogen is localized to body wall basement membranes and is required to direct longitudinal nerves dorsoventrally and to direct axons at the midlines. By examining migration of a single axon in vivo, we show that nidogen is required for the axon to switch from circumferential to longitudinal migration. Specialized basement membranes may thus regulate nerve position.  相似文献   

9.
The molecular mechanisms that maintain totipotency of the germline are not well understood. Here, we show that two conserved translational regulators, MEX-3 and GLD-1, are essential for maintaining totipotency in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. In mex-3 gld-1 mutants, germ cells transdifferentiate into various somatic cell types such as muscles or neurons. Our findings implicate RNA regulation in the maintenance of totipotency, suggest that multiple mechanisms maintain totipotency at different stages of germline development, and establish a genetically tractable model for studying the development of teratomas.  相似文献   

10.
Double-stranded RNA-mediated gene interference (RNAi) in Caenorhabditis elegans systemically inhibits gene expression throughout the organism. To investigate how gene-specific silencing information is transmitted between cells, we constructed a strain that permits visualization of systemic RNAi. We used this strain to identify systemic RNA interference-deficient (sid) loci required to spread gene-silencing information between tissues but not to initiate or maintain an RNAi response. One of these loci, sid-1, encodes a conserved protein with predicted transmembrane domains. SID-1 is expressed in cells sensitive to RNAi, is localized to the cell periphery, and is required cell-autonomously for systemic RNAi.  相似文献   

11.
Smell is an ancient sensory system present in organisms from bacteria to humans. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, gustatory and olfactory neurons regulate aging and longevity. Using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, we showed that exposure to nutrient-derived odorants can modulate life span and partially reverse the longevity-extending effects of dietary restriction. Furthermore, mutation of odorant receptor Or83b resulted in severe olfactory defects, altered adult metabolism, enhanced stress resistance, and extended life span. Our findings indicate that olfaction affects adult physiology and aging in Drosophila, possibly through the perceived availability of nutritional resources, and that olfactory regulation of life span is evolutionarily conserved.  相似文献   

12.
An insulinlike signaling pathway controls Caenorhabditis elegans aging, metabolism, and development. Mutations in the daf-2 insulin receptor-like gene or the downstream age-1 phosphoinositide 3-kinase gene extend adult life-span by two- to threefold. To identify tissues where this pathway regulates aging and metabolism, we restored daf-2 pathway signaling to only neurons, muscle, or intestine. Insulinlike signaling in neurons alone was sufficient to specify wild-type life-span, but muscle or intestinal signaling was not. However, restoring daf-2 pathway signaling to muscle rescued metabolic defects, thus decoupling regulation of life-span and metabolism. These findings point to the nervous system as a central regulator of animal longevity.  相似文献   

13.
Aβ (beta-amyloid peptide) is an important contributor to Alzheimer's disease (AD). We modeled Aβ toxicity in yeast by directing the peptide to the secretory pathway. A genome-wide screen for toxicity modifiers identified the yeast homolog of phosphatidylinositol binding clathrin assembly protein (PICALM) and other endocytic factors connected to AD whose relationship to Aβ was previously unknown. The factors identified in yeast modified Aβ toxicity in glutamatergic neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans and in primary rat cortical neurons. In yeast, Aβ impaired the endocytic trafficking of a plasma membrane receptor, which was ameliorated by endocytic pathway factors identified in the yeast screen. Thus, links between Aβ, endocytosis, and human AD risk factors can be ascertained with yeast as a model system.  相似文献   

14.
Cytokinesis is the essential process that partitions cellular contents into daughter cells. To identify and characterize cytokinesis proteins rapidly, we used a functional proteomic and comparative genomic strategy. Midbodies were isolated from mammalian cells, proteins were identified by multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT), and protein function was assessed in Caenorhabditis elegans. Of 172 homologs disrupted by RNA interference, 58% displayed defects in cleavage furrow formation or completion, or germline cytokinesis. Functional dissection of the midbody demonstrated the importance of lipid rafts and vesicle trafficking pathways in cytokinesis, and the utilization of common membrane cytoskeletal components in diverse morphogenetic events in the cleavage furrow, the germline, and neurons.  相似文献   

15.
Sato M  Sato K 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,334(6059):1141-1144
The mitochondrial genome is believed to be maternally inherited in many eukaryotes. Sperm-derived paternal mitochondria enter the oocyte cytoplasm upon fertilization and then normally disappear during early embryogenesis. However, the mechanism responsible for this clearance has been unknown. Here, we show that autophagy, which delivers cytosolic components to lysosomes for degradation, is required for the elimination of paternal mitochondria in Caenorhabditis elegans. Immediately after fertilization, sperm-derived components trigger the localized induction of autophagy around sperm mitochondria. Autophagosomes engulf paternal mitochondria, resulting in their lysosomal degradation during early embryogenesis. In autophagy-defective zygotes, paternal mitochondria and their genome remain even in the first larval stage. Thus, fertilization-triggered autophagy is required for selective degradation of paternal mitochondria and thereby maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA.  相似文献   

16.
Starr DA  Han M 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2002,298(5592):406-409
Mutations in anc-1 (nuclear anchorage defective) disrupt the positioning of nuclei and mitochondria in Caenorhabditis elegans. ANC-1 is shown to consist of mostly coiled regions with a nuclear envelope localization domain (called the KASH domain) and an actin-binding domain; this structure was conserved with the Drosophila protein Msp-300 and the mammalian Syne proteins. Antibodies against ANC-1 localized cytoplasmically and were enriched at the nuclear periphery in an UNC-84-dependent manner. Overexpression of the KASH domain or the actin-binding domain caused a dominant negative anchorage defect. Thus, ANC-1 may connect nuclei to the cytoskeleton by interacting with UNC-84 at the nuclear envelope and with actin in the cytoplasm.  相似文献   

17.
通过考查铜离子在朊病毒疾病发病过程中的作用,将有助于阐明朊病毒形成及发病机制以及重金属铜离子对朊病毒发病过程的影响,为进一步对朊病毒疾病的防治提供重要依据。实验运用采用转PrP基因线虫模型来研究朊蛋白与铜离子的相互作用。结果表明,线虫暴露于10^-3mol·L^-1铜离子浓度条件下,其对食物敏感性会下降,生命周期会减短,产卵数会减少;当线虫暴露于10^-4mol·L-1铜离子浓度条件下,会减少以上三种影响;当线虫暴露于10^-6mol·L-1铜离子浓度条件下,对线虫几乎没有影响。研究数据显示,在有高浓度铜离子影响情况下,转入朊蛋白102位点突变(dat-1-PrP102Mut)(w102)的线虫比转入朊蛋白(dat-1-PrPwt)(w101)的线虫损伤更严重,转入朊蛋白(W101)的线虫比野生型线虫(N2)损伤更严重。  相似文献   

18.
The Caenorhabditis elegans Bcl-2-like protein CED-9 prevents programmed cell death by antagonizing the Apaf-1-like cell-death activator CED-4. Endogenous CED-9 and CED-4 proteins localized to mitochondria in wild-type embryos, in which most cells survive. By contrast, in embryos in which cells had been induced to die, CED-4 assumed a perinuclear localization. CED-4 translocation induced by the cell-death activator EGL-1 was blocked by a gain-of-function mutation in ced-9 but was not dependent on ced-3 function, suggesting that CED-4 translocation precedes caspase activation and the execution phase of programmed cell death. Thus, a change in the subcellular localization of CED-4 may drive programmed cell death.  相似文献   

19.
Sensory organs are composed of neurons, which convert environmental stimuli to electrical signals, and glia-like cells, whose functions are not well understood. To decipher glial roles in sensory organs, we ablated the sheath glial cell of the major sensory organ of Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that glia-ablated animals exhibit profound sensory deficits and that glia provide activities that affect neuronal morphology, behavior generation, and neuronal uptake of lipophilic dyes. To understand the molecular bases of these activities, we identified 298 genes whose messenger RNAs are glia-enriched. One gene, fig-1, encodes a labile protein with conserved thrombospondin TSP1 domains. FIG-1 protein functions extracellularly, is essential for neuronal dye uptake, and also affects behavior. Our results suggest that glia are required for multiple aspects of sensory organ function.  相似文献   

20.
We report the discovery of a checkpoint that monitors synapsis between homologous chromosomes to ensure accurate meiotic segregation. Oocytes containing unsynapsed chromosomes selectively undergo apoptosis even if a germline DNA damage checkpoint is inactivated. This culling mechanism is specifically activated by unsynapsed pairing centers, cis-acting chromosome sites that are also required to promote synapsis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Apoptosis due to synaptic failure also requires the C. elegans homolog of PCH2, a budding yeast pachytene checkpoint gene, which suggests that this surveillance mechanism is widely conserved.  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号