Advertisement
JOURNAL ARTICLES
glp-1 can substitute for lin-12 in specifying cell fate decisions in Caenorhabditis elegans
K. Fitzgerald, H.A. Wilkinson, I. Greenwald
Development 1993 119: 1019-1027;

Summary

Members of the lin-12/Notch gene family encode receptors for intercellular signals and are found throughout the animal kingdom. In many animals, the presence of at least two lin-12/Notch genes raises the issue of the significance of this duplication and divergence. In Caenorhabditis elegans, two lin-12/Notch genes, lin-12 and glp-1, encode proteins that are 50% identical, with different numbers of epidermal growth factor-like motifs in their extracellular domains. Many of the cell fate decisions mediated by lin-12 and glp-1 are distinct. Here, we express glp-1 protein under the control of lin-12 regulatory sequences in animals lacking endogenous lin-12 activity and find that glp-1 can substitute for lin-12 in mediating cell fate decisions. These results imply that the lin-12 and glp-1 proteins are biochemically interchangeable, sharing common ligand and effector proteins, and that the discrete lin-12 and glp-1 mutant phenotypes result from differential gene expression. In addition, these results suggest that the duplicate lin-12/Notch genes found in vertebrates may also be biochemically interchangeable.

REFERENCES

    1. Brenner S.
    (1974). The genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 77, 71–94
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Ellisen L. W.,
    2. Bird J.,
    3. West D. C.,
    4. Soreng A. L.,
    5. Reynolds T. C.,
    6. Smith S. D.,
    7. Sklar J.
    (1991). TAN-1, the human homolog of the DrosophilaNotch gene, is broken by chromosomal translocations in T lymphoblastic neoplasms. Cell 66, 649–661
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Fire A.
    (1986). Integrative transformation of Caenorhabditis elegans. EMBO J 5, 2673–2680
    OpenUrlPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Franco del Amo F.,
    2. Smith D. E.,
    3. Swiatek P. J.,
    4. Gendron-Maguire M.,
    5. Greenspan R. J.,
    6. McMahon A. P.,
    7. Gridley T.
    (1992). Expression pattern of Motch, a mouse homolog of Drosophila Notch, suggests an important role in early postimplantation mouse development. Development 115, 737–744
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Greenwald I.,
    2. Rubin G. M.
    (1992). Making a difference: the role of cell-cell interactions in establishing separate identities for equivalent cells. Cell 68, 271–281
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Hodgkin J.,
    2. Horvitz H. R.,
    3. Brenner S.
    (1979). Nondisjunction mutants of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 91, 67–94
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Kimble J.
    (1981). Alterations in cell lineage following laser ablation of cells in the somatic gonad of Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev. Biol 87, 286–300
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Lambie E.,
    2. Kimble J.
    (1991). Two homologous genes, lin-12 and glp-1, have overlapping functions. Development 112, 231–240
    OpenUrlAbstract
    1. Lardelli M.,
    2. Lendahl U.
    (1993). Motch A and Motch B --two mouse Notch homologues coexpressed in a wide variety of tissues. Exp. Cell Res 204, 364–372
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Mello C. C.,
    2. Kramer J. M.,
    3. Stinchcomb D.,
    4. Ambros V.
    (1991). Efficient gene transfer in C. elegans: extrachromosomal maintenance and integration of transforming sequences. EMBO J 10, 3959–3970
    OpenUrlPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Priess J.,
    2. Schnabel H.,
    3. Schnabel R.
    (1987). The glp-1 locus and cellular interactions in early C. elegans embryos. Cell 51, 601–611
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Reaume A. G.,
    2. Conlon R. A.,
    3. Zirngibl R.,
    4. Yamaguchi T. P.,
    5. Rossant J.
    (1992). Expression analysis of a Notch homologue in the mouse embryo. Dev. Biol 154, 377–387
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Rebay I.,
    2. Fleming R. J.,
    3. Fehon R. G.,
    4. Cherbas L.,
    5. Cherbas P.,
    6. Artavanis-Tsakonas S.
    (1991). Specific EGF repeats of Notch mediate interactions with Delta and Serrate: implications for Notch as a multifunctional receptor. Cell 67, 687–699
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Robbins J.,
    2. Blondel B. J.,
    3. Gallahan D.,
    4. Callahan R.
    (1992). Mouse mammary tumor gene int-3: a member of the Notch gene family transforms mammary epithelial cells. J. Virol 66, 2594–2599
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Roehl H.,
    2. Kimble J.
    (1993). Control of cell fate in C. elegans by a Glp-1 peptide consisting primarily of ankyrin repeats. Nature 364, 632–635
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Rogers S.,
    2. Wells R.,
    3. Rechsteiner M.
    (1986). Amino acid sequences common to rapidly degraded proteins: the PEST hypothesis. Science 234, 364–368
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Seydoux G.,
    2. Savage C.,
    3. Greenwald I.
    (1993). Isolation and characterization of mutations causing abnormal eversion of the vulva in Caenorhabditis elegans. Dev. Biol 157, 423–436
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Struhl G.,
    2. Fitzgerald K.,
    3. Greenwald I.
    (1993). Intrinsic activity of the lin-12 and Notch intracellular domains in vivo. Cell 74, 331–345
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Sulston J.,
    2. Horvitz H. R.
    (1977). Post-embryonic cell lineages of the nematode Ceanorhabditis elegans. Dev. Biol 56, 110–156
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Weinmaster G.,
    2. Roberts V. J.,
    3. Lemke G.
    (1991). A homolog of Drosophila Notch expressed during mammalian development. Development 113, 199–205
    OpenUrlAbstract
    1. Weinmaster G.,
    2. Roberts V. J.,
    3. Lemke G.
    (1992). Notch2: a second mammalian Notch gene. Development 116, 931–941
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Yochem J.,
    2. Greenwald I.
    (1989). glp-1 and lin-12, genes implicated in distinct cell-cell interactions in C. elegans, encode similar transmembrane proteins. Cell 58, 553–563
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
Back to top

 Download PDF

Email
JOURNAL ARTICLES
glp-1 can substitute for lin-12 in specifying cell fate decisions in Caenorhabditis elegans
K. Fitzgerald, H.A. Wilkinson, I. Greenwald
Development 1993 119: 1019-1027;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Alerts

Article navigation

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Advertisement

A new society for regenerative biologists

Kenneth Poss and Elly Tanaka announce the launch of the International Society for Regenerative Biology (ISRB), which will promote research and education in the field of regenerative biology.

Upcoming special issue: call for papers

The Immune System in Development and Regeneration
Guest editors: Florent Ginhoux and Paul Martin
Submission deadline: 1 September 2021
Publication: Spring 2022

The special issue welcomes Review articles as well as Research articles, and will be widely promoted online and at key global conferences.

An interview with Cagney Coomer

Over a virtual chat, we spoke to Cagney Coomer about her experiences in the lab, the classroom and the community centre, and why she thinks outreach and role models are vital to science.

Development presents...

Our successful webinar series continues into 2021, with early-career researchers presenting their papers and a chance to virtually network with the developmental biology community afterwards. Here, Michèle Romanos talks about her new preprint, which mixes experimentation in quail embryos and computational modelling to understand how heterogeneity in a tissue influences cell rate.

Save your spot at our next session:

10 March
Time: 9:00 (GMT)
Chaired by: Thomas Lecuit

Join our mailing list to receive news and updates on the series.