Figure 7. MEC-3 Promotes Expression of HPO-30/Claudin to Stabilize PVD Lateral Branches (A) PVD lateral branches are truncated and disorganized in
hpo-30(
ok2047). PVD (green) is marked with PVD::GFP, and the nervous system is labeled with pan-neural::dsRed. (B and C)
hpo-30::GFP expression in (B) wild-type (WT) versus (C)
mec-3(
e1338) PVD neurons. Scale bars represent 5 mm. (D) Scatterplot shows reduced average intensity of
hpo-30::GFP in
mec-3 versus WT PVD neurons (n R 8, p = 0.04). Error bars represent mean +/- SEM. (E) Transgenic expression of wild-type HPO-30 with the PVD promoter, F49H12.4 (PVD::
hpo-30g) restores lateral branches to
hpo-30(
ok2047). Scale bar represents 10 mm. (F) Quantification of PVD 2 branches in wild-type versus
hpo-30 mutant animals, n > 10. Error bars represent mean +/- SEM. (G) PVD expression of C-terminal tagged HPO-30::GFP fusion protein (PVD::HPO-30::GFP) rescues the Hpo-30 branching defect (F) and shows punctate staining (arrows) in PVD dendrites. Scale bar represents 5 mm. (H and I) In (H), residual PVDR 2 branches (green) are largely associated with motor neuron commissures (red) (arrows) in
hpo-30 mutant animals (scale bar represents 10 mm), whereas in (I) wildtype, the majority of PVD 2 branches do not fasciculate with motor neuron commissures (i.e., 'pioneer' PVD 2 branches). ***p < 0.0001, n R 15 animals. In (I), error bars represent mean +/- SEM.