Maggot's hair and bug's eye: Role of cell interactions and intrinsic factors in cell fate specification

The migrations of cells and growth cones contribute to form and pattern during metazoan development. To study the mechanisms that regulate cell motility, we have screened for C. elegans mutants defective in the posteriorly directed migrations of the canal-associated neurons (CANs). Here we describe 14 genes necessary for CAN cell migration. Our characterization of the mutants has led to three conclusions. First, the mutations define three gene classes: genes necessary for cell fate specification, genes necessary for multiple cell migrations and a single gene necessary for final positioning of migrating cells. Second, cell interactions between the CAN and HSN, a neuron that migrates anteriorly to a position adjacent to the CAN, control the final destination of the HSN cell body. Third, C. elegans larval development requires the CANs. In the absence of CAN function, larvae arrest development, with excess fluid accumulating in their pseudocoeloms. This phenotype may reflect a role of the CANs in osmoregulation.

Download Full-text

Stem Cell Fate Specification: Role of Master Regulatory Switch Transcription Factor PU.1 in Differential Hematopoiesis

Stem Cells and Development ◽

10.1089/scd.2005.14.140 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 140-152 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Gurudutta U. Gangenahalli ◽

Pallavi Gupta ◽

Daman Saluja ◽

Yogesh K. Verma ◽

Vimal Kishore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Stem Cell ◽

Cell Fate ◽

Cell Fate Specification ◽

Stem Cell Fate ◽

Fate Specification

Download Full-text

The role of the Rx homeobox gene in retinal progenitor proliferation and cell fate specification

Mechanisms of Development ◽

10.1016/j.mod.2018.04.003 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 151 ◽

pp. 18-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

H.M. Rodgers ◽

V.J. Huffman ◽

V.A. Voronina ◽

M. Lewandoski ◽

P.H. Mathers

Keyword(s):

Cell Fate ◽

Homeobox Gene ◽

Cell Fate Specification ◽

Fate Specification ◽

Retinal Progenitor

Download Full-text

T1728 Role of ADAM10 Signaling in Cell Proliferation and Cell Fate Specification is Conserved Between the Developing and Adult Intestine

Gastroenterology ◽

10.1016/s0016-5085(10)62606-6 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 138 (5) ◽

pp. S-566 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yu-Hwai Tsai ◽

Kelli L. VanDussen ◽

Howard C. Crawford ◽

Linda C. Samuelson ◽

Peter J. Dempsey

Keyword(s):

Cell Proliferation ◽

Cell Fate ◽

Cell Fate Specification ◽

Fate Specification

Download Full-text

Role of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and Its Derivatives in the Biology and Cell Fate Specification of Neural Stem Cells

Molecular Neurobiology ◽

10.1007/s12035-018-0914-2 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 55 (9) ◽

pp. 7107-7117 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Raquel Coronel ◽

Adela Bernabeu-Zornoza ◽

Charlotte Palmer ◽

Mar Muñiz-Moreno ◽

Alberto Zambrano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stem Cells ◽

Neural Stem Cells ◽

Amyloid Precursor Protein ◽

Cell Fate ◽

Precursor Protein ◽

Cell Fate Specification ◽

Fate Specification

Download Full-text

β-catenin has an ancestral role in cell fate specification but not cell adhesion

10.1101/520957 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Miguel Salinas-Saavedra ◽

Athula H. Wikramanayake ◽

Mark Q Martindale

Keyword(s):

Cell Adhesion ◽

Cell Fate ◽

Target Genes ◽

Critical Role ◽

Mnemiopsis Leidyi ◽

Epithelial Tissue ◽

Cell Fate Specification ◽

Animal Cells ◽

Fate Specification

AbstractThe ß-catenin protein has two major known functions in animal cells. It keeps epithelial tissue homeostasis by its connection with Adherens Junctions (AJ), and it serves as a transcriptional cofactor along with Lef/Tcf to enter the nucleus and regulate target genes of the Wnt/ß-catenin (cWnt) signaling pathway. To assess the ancestral role of ß-catenin during development we examined its distribution and function in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi (one of the earliest branching animal phyla) by using ctenophore-specific antibodies and mRNA injection. We found that ß-catenin protein never localizes to cell-cell contacts during embryogenesis as it does in other metazoans, most likely because ctenophore-cadherins do not have the cytoplasmic domain required for interaction with the catenin proteins. Downregulation of zygotic Mlß-catenin signaling led to the loss of endodermal and mesodermal tissues indicating that nuclear ß-catenin may have a deep role in germ-layer evolution. Our results indicate that the ancestral role for ß-catenin was in the cell-fate specification and not in cell adhesion and also further emphasizes the critical role of this protein in the evolution of tissue layers in metazoans.

Download Full-text