Abstract
Metazoan stem cells repopulate tissues during adult life by dividing asymmetrically to generate another stem cell and a cell that terminally differentiates. Wnt signaling regulates the division pattern of stem cells in flies and vertebrates. While the short-lived nematode C. elegans has no adult somatic stem cells, the lateral epithelial seam cells divide in a stem cell-like manner in each larval stage, usually generating a posterior daughter that retains the seam cell fate and an anterior daughter that terminally differentiates. We show that while wild-type adult animals have 16 seam cells per side, animals with reduced function of the TCF homolog POP-1 have as many as 67 seam cells, and animals with reduced function of the β-catenins SYS-1 and WRM-1 have as few as three. Analysis of seam cell division patterns showed alterations in their stem cell-like divisions in the L2-L4 stages: reduced Wnt signaling caused both daughters to adopt non-seam fates, while activated Wnt signaling caused both daughters to adopt the seam fate. Therefore, our results indicate that Wnt signaling globally regulates the asymmetric, stem cell-like division of most or all somatic seam cells during C. elegans larval development, and that Wnt pathway regulation of stem cell-like behavior is conserved in nematodes.
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Caenorhabditis elegans / cytology
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Caenorhabditis elegans / genetics
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Caenorhabditis elegans / growth & development*
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / genetics
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / physiology*
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Cell Count
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Cell Differentiation
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Cell Division
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / deficiency
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / genetics
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / physiology*
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DNA-Binding Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
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DNA-Binding Proteins / deficiency
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DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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DNA-Binding Proteins / physiology*
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Epithelial Cells / cytology*
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Epithelial Cells / metabolism
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Genes, Reporter
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High Mobility Group Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
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High Mobility Group Proteins / deficiency
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High Mobility Group Proteins / genetics
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High Mobility Group Proteins / physiology*
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Larva
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RNA Interference
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins / biosynthesis
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins / physiology
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Repressor Proteins / physiology
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Signal Transduction / genetics
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Signal Transduction / physiology*
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Transcription Factors / antagonists & inhibitors
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Transcription Factors / genetics
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Transcription Factors / physiology*
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Wnt Proteins / physiology*
Substances
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BRO-1 protein, C elegans
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Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
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Cytoskeletal Proteins
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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High Mobility Group Proteins
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RNT-1 protein, C elegans
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins
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Repressor Proteins
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Sys-1 protein, C elegans
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Transcription Factors
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WRM-1 protein, C elegans
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Wnt Proteins
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bar-1 protein, C elegans
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pop-1 protein, C elegans