CGC Bibliography Paper 3135

Interactions of EGF, Wnt and Hom-C genes specify the P12 neuroectoblast fate in C. elegans.

Jiang LI, Sternberg PW

Medline:

98252823

Citation:

Development 125: 2337-2347 1998

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

egl-5 let-23 let-60 lin-3 lin-15 lin-17 lin-44 sem-5

Abstract:

We investigate how temporal and spatial interactions between multiple intercellular and intracellular factors specify the fate of a single cell in Caerhorhabditis elegans. P12, which is a ventral cord neuroectoblast, divides postembryonicaIly to generate neurons and a unique epidermal cell. Three classes of proteins are involved in the specification of P12 fate: the LIN-3/LET-23 epidermal growth factor signaling pathway, a Wnt protein LIN-44 and its candidate receptor LIN-17, and a homeotic gene product EGL-5, We show that LIN-3 is an inductive signal sufficient to promote the P12 fate, and the conserved EGF signaling pathway is utilized for P12 fate specification; egl-5 is a downstream target of the lin-3/let-23 pathway in specifying P12 fate; and LIN-44 and LIN-17 act synergistically with lin-3 in the specification of the P12 fate. The Wnt pathway may function early in development to regulate the competence of the cells to respond to the LIN-3 inductive