The Caenorhabditis elegans HNF4alpha Homolog, NHR-31, mediates excretory tube growth and function through coordinate regulation of the vacuolar ATPase.

ABSTRACT: Nuclear receptors of the Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor-4 (HNF4) subtype have been linked to a host of developmental and metabolic functions in animals ranging from worms to humans; however, the full spectrum of physiological activities carried out by this nuclear receptor subfamily is far from established. We have found that the Caenorhabditis elegans nuclear receptor NHR-31, a homolog of mammalian HNF4 receptors, is required for controlling the growth and function of the nematode excretory cell, a multi-branched tubular cell that acts as the C. elegans renal system. Larval specific RNAi knockdown of nhr-31 led to significant structural abnormalities along the length of the excretory cell canal, including numerous regions of uncontrolled growth at sites near to and distant from the cell nucleu

SUBMITTER: Hahn-Windgassen A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2720251 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature