CGC Bibliography Paper 5157

The C domain of netrin UNC-6 silences calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase- and diacylglycerol-dependent axon branching in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Wang Q, Wadsworth WG

Medline:

11896167

Citation:

Journal of Neuroscience 22: 2274-2282 2002

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

dgk-1 egl-8 egl-30 npr-1 unc-2 unc-5 unc-6 unc-36 unc-40 unc-43

Abstract:

Second messenger systems mediate neuronal responses to extracellular factors that elicit axon branching, turning, and guidance. We found that mutations in Caenorhabditis elegans that affect components of second messenger systems, a G-protein subunit, phospholipase Cbeta, diacylglycerol (DAG) kinase, and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMKII), have no obvious effect on axon responses to UNC-6 except in animals in which the N-terminal fragment, UNC-6DeltaC, is expressed. In these animals, the mutations enhance or suppress ectopic branching of certain axons. Netrin UNC-6 is an extracellular protein that guides circumferential migrations, and UNC-6DeltaC has UNC-6 guidance activity. We propose that the guidance response elicited by the UNC-6 N-terminal domains involves mechanisms that can induce branching that is sensitive to CaMKII- and DAG-dependent signaling, and that the UNC-6 C domain is required in cis to the N-terminal domains to silence the branching and to maintain proper axon