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1: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Oct 29;99(22):14224-9. Epub 2002 Oct 21.Click here to read Click here to read Links

The Caenorhabditis elegans vulval morphogenesis gene sqv-4 encodes a UDP-glucose dehydrogenase that is temporally and spatially regulated.

Hwang HY, Horvitz HR.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, 68-425, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

The development of the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva requires the involution of epithelial cells and provides a model for organ morphogenesis. Mutations in C. elegans sqv (squashed vulva) genes affect both vulval morphogenesis and embryonic development. We found that sqv-4 encodes a protein similar to UDP-glucose dehydrogenases and showed that the SQV-4 protein specifically catalyzes the conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid, which is essential for the biosynthesis of chondroitin and heparan sulfate proteoglycans. SQV-4 is expressed in the vulva and in oocytes, among many other cells, and SQV-4 levels are dramatically increased in a specific subset of vulval cells during vulval morphogenesis. We propose that the regulation of UDP-glucuronic acid production in a specific subset of vulval cells helps determine the shape of the vulva.

PMID: 12391315 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC137865