Your browser version may not work well with NCBI's Web applications. More information here...
1: Nat Cell Biol. 2004 Jan;6(1):31-7. Epub 2003 Dec 21.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Nat Cell Biol. 2004 Jan;6(1):9-11.

An NDPase links ADAM protease glycosylation with organ morphogenesis in C. elegans.

Nishiwaki K, Kubota Y, Chigira Y, Roy SK, Suzuki M, Schvarzstein M, Jigami Y, Hisamoto N, Matsumoto K.

RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology and PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan. nishiwak@cdb.riken.go.jp

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the gonad acquires two U-shaped arms through the directed migration of its distal tip cells (DTCs), which are located at the tip of the growing gonad arms. A member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) family, MIG-17, regulates directional migration of DTCs: MIG-17 is synthesized and secreted from the muscle cells of the body wall, and diffuses to the gonad where it is required for DTC migration. The mig-23 mutation causes defective migration of DTCs and interacts genetically with mig-17. Here, we report that mig-23 encodes a membrane-bound nucleoside diphosphatase (NDPase) required for glycosylation and proper localization of MIG-17. Our findings indicate that an NDPase affects organ morphogenesis through glycosylation of the MIG-17 ADAM protease.

PMID: 14688791 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]