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Curr Biol,
2011]
How might the extracellular matrix contribute to cytokinesis? In a recent report, evidence is presented that the conserved extracellular matrix protein hemicentin(HIM-4) is required for cytokinesis in worms and mice.
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[
Curr Biol,
2004]
Gonad morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans requires two secreted proteases. Recent studies show that alterations of the extracellular matrix component fibulin-1 rescue gonadogenesis in the absence of these proteases. This finding is a critical step toward understanding the role of extracellular matrix in organogenesis.
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[
Curr Biol,
2011]
Recent work on a Caenorhabditis elegans transmembrane ATPase reveals a central role for the aminophospholipid phosphatidylethanolamine in the production of a class of extracellular vesicles.
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[
Nat Cell Biol,
2001]
The endosomal system includes distinct endocytic compartments where decisions are made that determine the destinations of extracellular and plasma membrane materials that have been internalized. A new family of proteins has been found that governs the exit of material from one of these endocytic organelles, the endosomal recycling compartment (ERC).
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[
Cell,
2007]
Several extracellular factors, including Wnt proteins, have been reported to induce synapse formation. In this issue, Klassen and Shen (2007) report that Wnt proteins can also act as antisynaptogenic signals to prevent synapse formation in certain parts of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. The differential response of axon populations to local Wnt proteins may contribute to the patterning of synaptic connections.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,
2003]
The most common neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the presence of abnormal filamentous protein inclusions in nerve cells of the brain. In Alzheimer's disease, these inclusions are made of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. Together with the extracellular beta-amyloid deposits, they consitute the defining neuropathological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease. Tau inclusions, in the absence of extracellular deposits, are characteristic of progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Pick's disease, argyrophilic grain disease, and frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17. The identification of mutations in Tau in FTDP-17 has established that dysfunction of tau protein is central to the neurodegenerative process. At an experimental level, the expression of mutant human tau in nerve cells is leading to improved models of neurodegeneration. In this issue of PNAS, Kraemer et al. describe lines of Caenorhabditis elegans expressing transgenic wild-type and mutant human tau protein. They represent an important addition to
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Worm,
2016]
In recent years, moderate levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) have become recognized as signaling cues that participate at all levels of cellular organization. Globins, with their redox-active heme iron and ubiquitous presence, seem ideally suited to participate in ROS metabolism. Here we comment on our recent findings that show the participation of a globin, GLB-12, in a redox signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that GLB-12 produces superoxide, a type of ROS, after which this is converted to what appears to be a hydrogen peroxide gradient over the plasma membrane by the activity of intracellular and extracellular superoxide dismutases. In the first part, we discuss in more detail the different regulatory mechanisms that increase the effectiveness of this redox signal. In the second part, we comment on how specific structural and biochemical properties allow this globin to perform redox reactions. Interestingly, these properties are also observed in 2 other C. elegans globins that appear to be involved in redox biology. We therefore hypothesize that globins involved in redox signaling display similar structural and biochemical characteristics and propose that a subgroup of globins can be added to the group of proteins that play a vital role in redox signaling.