The actin-binding protein UNC-115/abLIM controls formation of lamellipodia and filopodia and neuronal morphogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: The roles of actin-binding proteins in development and morphogenesis are not well understood. The actin-binding protein UNC-115 has been implicated in cytoskeletal signaling downstream of Rac in Caenorhabditis elegans axon pathfinding, but the cellular role of UNC-115 in this process remains undefined. Here we report that UNC-115 overactivity in C. elegans neurons promotes the formation of neurites and lamellipodial and filopodial extensions similar to those induced by activated Rac and normally found in C. elegans growth cones. We show that UNC-115 activity in neuronal morphogenesis is enhanced by two molecular mechanisms: when ectopically driven to the plasma membrane by the myristoylation sequence of c-Src, and by mutation of a putative serine phosphorylation site in the actin-binding d

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1140600 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature