The UNC-4 homeobox protein represses mab-9 expression in DA motor neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans

TY - JOUR

T1 - The UNC-4 homeobox protein represses mab-9 expression in DA motor neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans

AU - Jafari, Gholamali

AU - Appleford, Peter J

AU - Seago, Julian

AU - Pocock, Roger

AU - Woollard, Alison

N1 - Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2011/1

Y1 - 2011/1

N2 - The T-box transcription factor mab-9 has been shown to be required for the correct fate of the male-specific blast cells B and F, normal posterior hypodermal morphogenesis, and for the correct axon migration of motor neurons that project circumferential commissures to dorsal muscles. In this study, an RNAi screen designed to identify upstream transcriptional regulators of mab-9 showed that silencing of unc-4 (encoding a paired-class homeodomain protein) increases mab-9::gfp expression in the nervous system, specifically in posterior DA motor neurons. Over-expression of unc-4 from a heat-shock promoter has the opposite effect, causing repression of mab-9 in various cells. We find that mab-9 expression in unc-37 mutants is also elevated in DA motor neurons, consistent with known roles for UNC-37 as a co-repressor with UNC-4. These results identify mab-9 as a novel target of the UNC-4/UNC-37 repressor complex in motor neurons, and suggest that mis-expression of mab-9 may contribute to the neuronal wiring defects in unc-4 and unc-37 mutants.

AB - The T-box transcription factor mab-9 has been shown to be required for the correct fate of the male-specific blast cells B and F, normal posterior hypodermal morphogenesis, and for the correct axon migration of motor neurons that project circumferential commissures to dorsal muscles. In this study, an RNAi screen designed to identify upstream transcriptional regulators of mab-9 showed that silencing of unc-4 (encoding a paired-class homeodomain protein) increases mab-9::gfp expression in the nervous system, specifically in posterior DA motor neurons. Over-expression of unc-4 from a heat-shock promoter has the opposite effect, causing repression of mab-9 in various cells. We find that mab-9 expression in unc-37 mutants is also elevated in DA motor neurons, consistent with known roles for UNC-37 as a co-repressor with UNC-4. These results identify mab-9 as a novel target of the UNC-4/UNC-37 repressor complex in motor neurons, and suggest that mis-expression of mab-9 may contribute to the neuronal wiring defects in unc-4 and unc-37 mutants.

KW - Animals

KW - Caenorhabditis elegans

KW - Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins

KW - Green Fluorescent Proteins

KW - Homeodomain Proteins

KW - Male

KW - Motor Neurons

KW - Mutation

KW - Nuclear Proteins

KW - Protein Binding

KW - RNA Interference

KW - Recombinant Fusion Proteins

KW - Repressor Proteins

KW - Transcription Factors

U2 - 10.1016/j.mod.2010.09.005

DO - 10.1016/j.mod.2010.09.005

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20933597

SN - 0925-4773

VL - 128

SP - 49

EP - 58

JO - Mechanisms of Development

JF - Mechanisms of Development

IS - 1-2

ER -