spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 14 June 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02447

Development 133, 2747-2756 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.02447v1
133/14/2747    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cordes, S.
Right arrow Articles by Garriga, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cordes, S.
Right arrow Articles by Garriga, G.

The C. elegans MELK ortholog PIG-1 regulates cell size asymmetry and daughter cell fate in asymmetric neuroblast divisions

Shaun Cordes1, C. Andrew Frank1,* and Gian Garriga1,2,{dagger}

1 Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

{dagger} Author for correspondence (e-mail: garriga{at}berkeley.edu)

Accepted 16 May 2006

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, neurons are generated from asymmetric divisions in which a mother cell divides to produce daughters that differ in fate. Here, we demonstrate that the gene pig-1 regulates the asymmetric divisions of neuroblasts that divide to produce an apoptotic cell and either a neural precursor or a neuron. In pig-1 mutants, these neuroblasts divide to produce daughters that are more equal in size, and their apoptotic daughters are transformed into their sisters, leading to the production of extra neurons. PIG-1 is orthologous to MELK, a conserved member of the polarity-regulating PAR-1/Kin1/SAD-1 family of serine/threonine kinases. Although MELK has been implicated in regulating the cell cycle, our data suggest that PIG-1, like other PAR-1 family members, regulates cell polarity.

Key words: Asymmetric cell division, Neuroblast, MELK, PAR-1, PIG-1, HAM-1, Cell polarity, Cell fate, Programmed cell death, Apoptosis




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 GeneticsHome page
A. Singhvi, C. A. Frank, and G. Garriga
The T-Box Gene tbx-2, the Homeobox Gene egl-5 and the Asymmetric Cell Division Gene ham-1 Specify Neural Fate in the HSN/PHB Lineage
Genetics, June 1, 2008; 179(2): 887 - 898.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cancer Res.Home page
J. J. Molenaar, M. E. Ebus, J. Koster, P. v. Sluis, C. J.M. van Noesel, R. Versteeg, and H. N. Caron
Cyclin D1 and CDK4 Activity Contribute to the Undifferentiated Phenotype in Neuroblastoma
Cancer Res., April 15, 2008; 68(8): 2599 - 2609.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006