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Movers and shakers or anchored: Caenorhabditis elegans nuclei achieve it with KASH/SUN
Author(s) -
Zhou Kang,
HannaRose Wendy
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.22226
Subject(s) - caenorhabditis elegans , biology , nucleus , cytoskeleton , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , cell
The invariant cell division patterns that characterize Caenorhabditis elegans development make it an ideal system to study the mechanisms that control nuclear movement and positioning. Forward genetic screens in this system allowed identification of the key molecular machinery for connecting the nucleus to the cytoskeleton; pairs of protein partners, consisting of a KASH domain protein and a SUN domain protein, bridge the nuclear envelope to connect the nucleus to cytoskeletal components. The C. elegans genome encodes several KASH/SUN pairs, and mutant phenotypes as well as tissue‐specific expression patterns suggest a diversity of functions. These functions include moving the nucleus but have been extended to effects on the chromosomes inside the nucleus as well. We review the impact of the C. elegans system in pioneering this field as well as the functions of these KASH/SUN protein pairs across spatial and temporal C. elegans development. Developmental Dynamics 239:1352–1364, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.