Assembly of C. elegans apical junctions involves positioning and compaction by LET-413 and protein aggregation by the MAGUK protein DLG-1 - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles Journal of Cell Science Year : 2001

Assembly of C. elegans apical junctions involves positioning and compaction by LET-413 and protein aggregation by the MAGUK protein DLG-1

Abstract

Specialised subapical junctions play a critical role in maintaining epithelial cell polarity and tissue integrity, and provide a platform for intracellular signalling. Here we analyse the roles of C. elegans genes let-413 and dlg-1, a homologue of Drosophila lethal discs large, in the assembly of the C. elegans apical junction (CeAJ), and provide the first characterisation of this structure. We have identified dlg-1 as an essential gene in an RNA interference screen against C. elegans homologues of genes encoding proteins involved in tight or septate junction formation. We show that DLG-1 colocalises with the junctional protein JAM-1 at CeAJs in a unit distinct from HMP-1/alpha-catenin, and apical to the laterally localised LET-413. Loss of dlg-1 activity leads to JAM-1 mislocalisation and the disappearance of the electron-dense component of the CeAJs, but only mild adhesion and polarity defects. In contrast, loss of let-413 activity leads to the formation of basally extended discontinuous CeAJs and strong adhesion and polarity defects. Interestingly, in LET-413-deficient embryos, CeAJ markers are localised along the lateral membrane in a manner resembling that observed in wild-type embryos at the onset of epithelial differentiation. We conclude that the primary function of LET-413 is to correctly position CeAJ components at a discrete subapical position. Furthermore, we propose that DLG-1 is required to aggregate JAM-1 and other proteins forming the electron-dense CeAJ structure. Our data suggest that epithelial adhesion is maintained by several redundant systems in C. elegans.
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hal-04094329 , version 1 (10-05-2023)

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Laura Mcmahon, Renaud Legouis, Jean-Luc Vonesch, Michel Labouesse. Assembly of C. elegans apical junctions involves positioning and compaction by LET-413 and protein aggregation by the MAGUK protein DLG-1. Journal of Cell Science, 2001, 114 (Pt 12), pp.2265-2277. ⟨10.1242/jcs.114.12.2265⟩. ⟨hal-04094329⟩
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