Kato Mihoko, Sternberg Paul W
HHMI and Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Development. 2009 Dec;136(23):3907-15. doi: 10.1242/dev.035477.
Cell migration is a common event during organogenesis, yet little is known about how migration is temporally coordinated with organ development. We are investigating stage-specific programs of cell migration using the linker cell (LC), a migratory cell crucial for male gonadogenesis of C. elegans. During the L3 and L4 larval stages of wild-type males, the LC undergoes changes in its position along the migratory route, in transcriptional regulation of the unc-5 netrin receptor and zmp-1 zinc matrix metalloprotease, and in cell morphology. We have identified the tailless homolog nhr-67 as a cell-autonomous, stage-specific regulator of timing in LC migration programs. In nhr-67-deficient animals, each of the L3 and L4 stage changes is either severely delayed or never occurs, yet LC development before the early L3 stage or after the mid-L4 stage occurs with normal timing. We propose that there is a basal migration program utilized throughout LC migration that is modified by stage-specific regulators such as nhr-67.
细胞迁移是器官发生过程中的常见事件，但对于迁移如何与器官发育在时间上协调仍知之甚少。我们正在利用连接细胞（LC）研究细胞迁移的阶段特异性程序，LC是秀丽隐杆线虫雄性性腺发生所必需的一种迁移细胞。在野生型雄性的L3和L4幼虫阶段，LC在迁移路线上的位置、unc-5神经趋化因子受体和zmp-1锌基质金属蛋白酶的转录调控以及细胞形态都会发生变化。我们已确定无尾同源物nhr-67是LC迁移程序中时间的细胞自主、阶段特异性调节因子。在nhr-67缺陷动物中，L3和L4阶段的每一个变化要么严重延迟，要么从未发生，但L3早期之前或L4中期之后的LC发育时间正常。我们提出，在整个LC迁移过程中存在一个基础迁移程序，该程序会被nhr-67等阶段特异性调节因子所修饰。
