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C elegans Rb, NuRD, and Ras regulate lin ... uring vulval fate specification
C. elegans Rb, NuRD, and Ras regulate lin-39-mediated cell fusion during vulval fate specification.
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The tumor suppressor Rb and the NuRD (nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation) complex have been implicated in transcriptional repression during cell cycle progression and cell fate specification. The Rb/E2F complex physically interacts with and thus recruits the NuRD complex to actively repress transcription. Caenorhabditis elegans counterparts of Rb, E2F/DP, and some NuRD complex components appear to function in a common class B synthetic Multivulva (synMuv) pathway to antagonize RTK/Ras signaling during vulval fate specification. Therefore, it has been suggested that they function together in a single complex to repress vulva-specific gene transcription. However, little is known about the in vivo interactions between these class B synMuv genes and their relationships with other pathways in specific cellular processes during vulval development. We show that C. elegans Rb/E2F and NuRD complexes antagonize Ras activity by controlling a lin-39 Hox-mediated cell fusion event that regulates the competence of vulval cells. Interestingly, Rb/E2F and NuRD complexes exhibit very different genetic properties. While the NuRD complex negatively regulates lin-39 Hox activity, likely by downregulating its expression, RB/E2F appears to play dual roles in regulating lin-39: a negative role in controlling its activity and a previously uncharacterized positive role in regulating its expression.
Chen Z, Han M
Current biology : CB
2001-11-27 00:00
11
23
1874-9
Animals,Caenorhabditis elegans,Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins,Cell Cycle Proteins,Cell Fusion,Cell Lineage,DNA-Binding Proteins,E2F Transcription Factors,Female,Genes, Helminth,Histone Deacetylases,Homeodomain Proteins,Transcription Factors,Vulva,ras Proteins,Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins,Cell Cycle Proteins,DNA-Binding Proteins,E2F Transcription Factors,Homeodomain Proteins,Transcription Factors,efl-1 protein, C elegans,lin-39 protein, C elegans,Histone Deacetylases,NuRD complex,ras Proteins
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Curr. Biol.
NIGMS R01 GM47869
0960-9822
S0960-9822(01)00596-6
470
True
11728311
