| Title: | Sensory regulation of the C. elegans germline through TGF-beta-dependent signaling in the niche |
| Author(s): | Dalfo D; Michaelson D; Hubbard EJ; |
| Address: | "Developmental Genetics Program, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Helen and Martin Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology, and Department of Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.064 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Print) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The proliferation/differentiation balance of stem and progenitor cell populations must respond to the physiological needs of the organism [1, 2]. Mechanisms underlying this plasticity are not well understood. The C. elegans germline provides a tractable system to study the influence of the environment on progenitor cells (stem cells and their proliferative progeny). Germline progenitors accumulate during larval stages to form an adult pool from which gametes are produced. Notch pathway signaling from the distal tip cell (DTC) niche to the germline maintains the progenitor pool [3-5], and the larval germline cell cycle is boosted by insulin/IGF-like receptor signaling [6]. Here we show that, independent of its role in the dauer decision, TGF-beta regulates the balance of proliferation versus differentiation in the C. elegans germline in response to sensory cues that report population density and food abundance. Ciliated ASI sensory neurons are required for TGF-beta-mediated expansion of the larval germline progenitor pool, and the TGF-beta receptor pathway acts in the germline stem cell niche. TGF-beta signaling thereby couples germline development to the quality of the environment, providing a novel cellular and molecular mechanism linking sensory experience of the environment to reproduction" |
| Keywords: | Animals Caenorhabditis elegans/cytology/*physiology Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics/metabolism/*physiology Cell Differentiation Cell Proliferation Germ Cells/metabolism Larva Membrane Glycoproteins/genetics/metabolism Pheromones/physiology Popula; |
| Notes: | "MedlineDalfo, Diana Michaelson, David Hubbard, E Jane Albert eng R21CA141399/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ R01 GM061706/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R21 CA141399-01A2/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ S10 OD021727/OD/NIH HHS/ R03 HD066005/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ R03HD066005/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ R01GM061706/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R01 GM061706-09/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ R21 CA141399/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ R03 HD066005-02/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural England 2012/04/10 Curr Biol. 2012 Apr 24; 22(8):712-9. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.02.064. Epub 2012 Apr 5" |
