Control of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation by the heterochronic genes and the cellular asymmetry machinery in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Transitions between asymmetric (self-renewing) and symmetric (proliferative) cell divisions are robustly regulated in the context of normal development and tissue homeostasis. To genetically assess the regulation of these transitions, we used the postembryonic epithelial stem (seam) cell lineages of Caenorhabditis elegans. In these lineages, the timing of these transitions is regulated by the evolutionarily conserved heterochronic pathway, whereas cell division asymmetry is conferred by a pathway consisting of Wnt (Wingless) pathway components, including posterior pharynx defect (POP-1)/TCF, APC related/adenomatosis polyposis coli (APR-1)/APC, and LIT-1/NLK (loss of intestine/Nemo-like kinase). Here we explore the genetic regulatory mechanisms underlying stage-specific transitions between

SUBMITTER: Harandi OF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4311799 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature