The Importance of cGMP Signaling in Sensory Cilia for Body Size Regulation in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>
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- Manabi Fujiwara
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
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- Takahiro Hino
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
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- Ryuta Miyamoto
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
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- Hitoshi Inada
- Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan
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- Ikue Mori
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan
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- Makoto Koga
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
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- Koji Miyahara
- Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Biotechnology and Life Science, Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
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- Yasumi Ohshima
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
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- Takeshi Ishihara
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The body size of Caenorhabditis elegans is thought to be controlled by sensory inputs because many mutants with sensory cilium structure defects exhibit small body size. The EGL-4 cGMP-dependent protein kinase acts in sensory neurons to reduce body size when animals fail to perceive sensory signals. In addition to body size control, EGL-4 regulates various other behavioral and developmental pathways, including those involved in the regulation of egg laying and chemotaxis behavior. Here we have identified gcy-12, which encodes a receptor-type guanylyl cyclase, as a gene involved in the sensory regulation of body size. Analyses with GFP fusion constructs showed that gcy-12 is expressed in several sensory neurons and localizes to sensory cilia. Genetic analyses indicated that GCY-12 acts upstream of EGL-4 in body size control but does not affect other EGL-4 functions. Our studies indicate that the function of the GCY-12 guanylyl cyclase is to provide cGMP to the EGL-4 cGMP-dependent kinase only for limited tasks including body size regulation. We also found that the PDE-2 cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase negatively regulates EGL-4 in controlling body size. Thus, the cGMP level is precisely controlled by GCY-12 and PDE-2 to determine body size through EGL-4, and the defects in the sensory cilium structure may disturb the balanced control of the cGMP level. The large number of guanylyl cyclases encoded in the C. elegans genome suggests that EGL-4 exerts pleiotropic effects by partnering with different guanylyl cyclases for different downstream functions.</jats:p>
Journal
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- Genetics
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Genetics 201 (4), 1497-1510, 2015-10-04
Oxford University Press (OUP)
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Keywords
Details 詳細情報について
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- CRID
- 1360567187895620992
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- ISSN
- 19432631
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- Data Source
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- Crossref
- KAKEN