Caenorhabditis elegans Flamingo Cadherin fmi-1 Regulates GABAergic Neuronal Development

View/ Open
Issue Date
2012-03-21Author
Najarro, Elvis Huarcaya
Wong, Lianna
Zhen, Mei
Carpio, Edgar Pinedo
Goncharov, Alexandr
Garriga, Gian
Lundquist, Erik A.
Jin, Yishi
Ackley, Brian D.
Publisher
Society for Neuroscience
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In a genetic screen for regulators of synaptic morphology, we identified the single Caenorhabditis elegans flamingo-like cadherin fmi-1. The fmi-1 mutants exhibit defective axon pathfinding, reduced synapse number, aberrant synapse size and morphology, as well as an abnormal accumulation of synaptic vesicles at nonsynaptic regions. Although FMI-1 is primarily expressed in the nervous system, it is not expressed in the ventral D-type (VD) GABAergic motorneurons, which are defective in fmi-1 mutants. The axon and synaptic defects of VD neurons could be rescued when fmi-1 was expressed exclusively in non-VD neighboring neurons, suggesting a cell nonautonomous action of FMI-1. FMI-1 protein that lacked its intracellular domain still retained its ability to rescue the vesicle accumulation defects of GABAergic motorneurons, indicating that the extracellular domain was sufficient for this function of FMI-1 in GABAergic neuromuscular junction development. Mutations in cdh-4, a Fat-like cadherin, cause similar defects in GABAergic motorneurons. The cdh-4 is expressed by the VD neurons and seems to function in the same genetic pathway as fmi-1 to regulate GABAergic neuron development. Thus, fmi-1 and cdh-4 cadherins might act together to regulate synapse development and axon pathfinding.
Description
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/12/4196.
Collections
Citation
Najarro, Elvis Huarcaya et al. (2012). "Caenorhabditis elegans Flamingo Cadherin fmi-1 Regulates GABAergic Neuronal Development." Journal of Neuroscience, 32(12):4196-4211. http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3094-11.2012
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.