[
International C. elegans Meeting,
2001]
Bag1 is a multifunctional protein that interacts with a variety of partner proteins. In mammalian cells, overexpression of Bag1 influences different signal transduction pathways, which in general leads to prevention of apoptosis or inhibition of cell cycle arrest. Interaction partners of Bag1 include Bcl-2, Raf-1 kinase, hormone receptors, and Hsp70. Bag1 enhances the anti-apoptotic function of Bcl-2, stimulates of the Raf-1 kinase activity, and inhibits Hsp70 chaperone activities. We are using C. elegans as a model to investigate the function of Bag1 during development and survival of a complex multicellular organism. We have created and analyzed a deletion mutant of Bag1 (F57B10.11). Null mutants appear similar to the wild type N2 strain with respect to viability, anatomy, timing of development, and life span. This indicates that Bag1 is not an essential gene and, moreover that Bag1 is not essential for Hsp70 activity under physiological conditions. Interestingly, the Bag1 null hermaphrodites show a 20% increase in the number of progeny compared to wild type N2 worms. Given the effect of overexpression of Bag1 on signal transduction pathways in mammalian cells, often reflected in changes in transcriptional activities, we asked whether phenotypic changes in C.elegans caused by deletion of Bag1 could be explained by changes in the mRNA expression profile. We are currently analyzing the mRNA expression profile of adult Bag1 null worms, compared to adult wild type N2 worms, using full genome microarrays. We will report on our progress on the microarray analysis and on the characterization of the phenotype of the Bag1 deletion strain.