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The minus‐end actin capping protein, UNC‐94/tropomodulin, regulates development of the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine
Author(s) -
CoxPaulson Elisabeth,
Cannataro Vincent,
Gallagher Thomas,
Hoffman Corey,
Mantione Gary,
M Matthew,
Silva Malan,
Vissichelli Nicole,
Walker Rachel,
Simske Jeffrey,
Ono Shoichiro,
Hoops Harold
Publication year - 2014
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.24118
Subject(s) - biology , myosin , caenorhabditis elegans , microbiology and biotechnology , actin , lumen (anatomy) , tropomyosin , anatomy , biochemistry , gene
Background: Tropomodulins are actin‐capping proteins that regulate the stability of the slow‐growing, minus‐ends of actin filaments. The C. elegans tropomodulin homolog, UNC‐94, has sequence and functional similarity to vertebrate tropomodulins. We investigated the role of UNC‐94 in C. elegans intestinal morphogenesis. Results: In the embryonic C. elegans intestine, UNC‐94 localizes to the terminal web, an actin‐ and intermediate filament‐rich structure that underlies the apical membrane. Loss of UNC‐94 function results in areas of flattened intestinal lumen. In worms homozygous for the strong loss‐of‐function allele, unc‐94(tm724) , the terminal web is thinner and the amount of F‐actin is reduced, pointing to a role for UNC‐94 in regulating the structure of the terminal web. The non‐muscle myosin, NMY‐1, also localizes to the terminal web, and we present evidence that increasing actomyosin contractility by depleting the myosin phosphatase regulatory subunit, mel‐11 , can rescue the flattened lumen phenotype of unc‐94 mutants. Conclusions: The data support a model in which minus‐end actin capping by UNC‐94 promotes proper F‐actin structure and contraction in the terminal web, yielding proper shape of the intestinal lumen. This establishes a new role for a tropomodulin in regulating lumen shape during tubulogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 243:753–764, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.