CGC Bibliography Paper 5541

The Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis gene sqv-4 encodes a UDP-glucose dehydrogenase that is temporally and spatially regulated.

Hwang HY, Horvitz HR

Medline:

12391315

Citation:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99: 14224-14229 2002

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

emo-1 lin-11 lin-12 sqv-1 sqv-3 sqv-4 sqv-7 sqv-8 sDf35

Abstract:

The development of the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva requires the involution of epithelial cells and provides a model for organ morphogenesis. Mutations in C elegans sqv (squashed vulva) genes affect both vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development. We found that sqv-4 encodes a protein similar to UDPglucose dehydrogenases and showed that the SQV-4 protein specifically catalyzes the conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, which is essential for the biosynthesis of chondroitin and heparan sulfate proteoglycans. SQV-4 is expressed in the vulva and in oocytes, among many other cells, and SQV-4 levels are dramatically increased in a specific subset of vulval cells during vulval morphogenesis. We propose that the regulation of UDP-glucuronic acid production in a specific subset of vulval cells helps determine the shape of the vulva.