A dominant mutation in mec-7/β-tubulin affects axon development and regeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons.

ABSTRACT: Microtubules have been known for decades to be basic elements of the cytoskeleton. They form long, dynamic, rope-like structures within the cell that are essential for mitosis, maintenance of cell shape, and intracellular transport. More recently, in vitro studies have implicated microtubules as signaling molecules that, through changes in their stability, have the potential to trigger growth of axons and dendrites in developing neurons. In this study, we show that specific mutations in the Caenorhabditis elegans mec-7/β-tubulin gene cause ectopic axon formation in mechanosensory neurons in vivo. In mec-7 mutants, the ALM mechanosensory neuron forms a long ectopic neurite that extends posteriorly, a phenotype that can be mimicked in wild-type worms with a microtubule-stabilizing drug (pacl

SUBMITTER: Kirszenblat L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3564523 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature