Epidermal control of axonal attachment via β-spectrin and the GTPase-activating protein TBC-10 prevents axonal degeneration.

ABSTRACT: Neurons are subjected to strain due to body movement and their location within organs and tissues. However, how they withstand these forces over the lifetime of an organism is still poorly understood. Here, focusing on touch receptor neuron-epidermis interactions using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system, we show that UNC-70/β-spectrin and TBC-10, a conserved GTPase-activating protein, function non-cell-autonomously within the epidermis to dynamically maintain attachment of the axon. We reveal that, in response to strain, UNC-70/β-spectrin and TBC-10 stabilize trans-epidermal hemidesmosome attachment structures which otherwise become lost, causing axonal breakage and degeneration. Furthermore, we show that TBC-10 regulates axonal attachment and maintenance by inactivating RAB-35, and

SUBMITTER: Coakley S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6952388 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature