a Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology , Yale University , New Haven , CT , USA.
Cell Cycle. 2017 Oct 2;16(19):1800-1809. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2017.1344798. Epub 2017 Sep 21.
The heterochronic pathway in C. elegans controls the relative timing of cell fate decisions during post-embryonic development. It includes a network of microRNAs (miRNAs), such as let-7, and protein-coding genes, such as the stemness factors, LIN-28 and LIN-41. Here we identified the acn-1 gene, a homologue of mammalian angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), as a new suppressor of the stem cell developmental defects of let-7 mutants. Since acn-1 null mutants die during early larval development, we used RNAi to characterize the role of acn-1 in C. elegans seam cell development, and determined its interaction with heterochronic factors, including let-7 and its downstream interactors - lin-41, hbl-1, and apl-1. We demonstrate that although RNAi knockdown of acn-1 is insufficient to cause heterochronic defects on its own, loss of acn-1 suppresses the retarded phenotypes of let-7 mutants and enhances the precocious phenotypes of hbl-1, though not lin-41, mutants. Conversely, the pattern of acn-1 expression, which oscillates during larval development, is disrupted by lin-41 mutants but not by hbl-1 mutants. Finally, we show that acn-1(RNAi) enhances the let-7-suppressing phenotypes caused by loss of apl-1, a homologue of the Alzheimer's disease-causing amyloid precursor protein (APP), while significantly disrupting the expression of apl-1 during the L4 larval stage. In conclusion, acn-1 interacts with heterochronic genes and appears to function downstream of let-7 and its target genes, including lin-41 and apl-1.
秀丽隐杆线虫中的异型调控途径控制着胚胎后发育过程中细胞命运决定的相对时间。它包括一个 microRNAs(miRNAs)网络,如 let-7,以及蛋白编码基因,如干性因子 LIN-28 和 LIN-41。在这里,我们鉴定了 acn-1 基因,它是哺乳动物血管紧张素转换酶(ACE)的同源物,是 let-7 突变体干细胞发育缺陷的新抑制因子。由于 acn-1 缺失突变体在早期幼虫发育过程中死亡,我们使用 RNAi 来表征 acn-1 在秀丽隐杆线虫 seam 细胞发育中的作用,并确定其与异型调控因子的相互作用,包括 let-7 及其下游相互作用因子 - lin-41、hbl-1 和 apl-1。我们证明,尽管 RNAi 敲低 acn-1 本身不足以引起异型调控缺陷,但 acn-1 的缺失抑制了 let-7 突变体的延迟表型,并增强了 hbl-1 突变体的早熟表型,尽管不是 lin-41 突变体。相反,acn-1 的表达模式在幼虫发育过程中呈振荡性,这一模式被 lin-41 突变体破坏,但不是被 hbl-1 突变体破坏。最后,我们表明 acn-1(RNAi)增强了 apl-1 缺失引起的 let-7 抑制表型,apl-1 是阿尔茨海默病致病淀粉样前体蛋白(APP)的同源物,而在 L4 幼虫阶段显著扰乱了 apl-1 的表达。总之,acn-1 与异型调控基因相互作用,似乎在 let-7 及其靶基因,包括 lin-41 和 apl-1 的下游发挥作用。