Feedback between a retinoid-related nuclear receptor and the let-7 microRNAs controls the pace and number of molting cycles in C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: Animal development requires coordination among cyclic processes, sequential cell fate specifications, and once-a-lifetime morphogenic events, but the underlying timing mechanisms are not well understood. Caenorhabditis elegans undergoes four molts at regular 8 to 10 hour intervals. The pace of the cycle is governed by PERIOD/lin-42 and other as-yet unknown factors. Cessation of the cycle in young adults is controlled by the let-7 family of microRNAs and downstream transcription factors in the heterochronic pathway. Here, we characterize a negative feedback loop between NHR-23, the worm homolog of mammalian retinoid-related orphan receptors (RORs), and the let-7 family of microRNAs that regulates both the frequency and finite number of molts.

SUBMITTER: Patel R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9377799 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature