Tissue-Specific Regulation of Contraction and Elongation in the C. elegans Early Embryo
Date
2018-08-20
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Abstract
Morphogenesis, a key feature of embryonic development, is driven by actin cytoskeleton contraction. Actin and myosin activity promote elongation of the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo from a ball of cells to a tubular worm. I used mutants in the elongation/contraction pathway to assess tissue-specific requirements of components regulating the contractile pathway. Contraction occurs mainly in the lateral embryonic epidermal cells, while the dorsoventral epidermal cells play a more passive role. Elongation is regulated by Rho kinase/LET-502, p-21 activating kinase/PAK-1, and myosin phosphatase/MEL-11. Though it is known that LET-502 and MEL-11 are expressed throughout the epidermis, in which cells the genes are necessary or sufficient is unknown. I used transgenic animals and body length measurements to show that LET-502 is sufficient in lateral but not dorsoventral cells, and that PAK-1 and MEL-11 are not sufficient in either lateral or dorsovetnral cells.
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Morphogenesis, Rho kinase, myosin phosphatase, p21-activated kinase, C. elegans, cytoskeleton, actin
Citation
Drewnik, E. D. (2018). Tissue-Specific Regulation of Contraction and Elongation in the C. elegans Early Embryo (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32834