Project description:Reproductive cessation is perhaps the earliest aging phenotypes humans experience. Similarly, C. elegans' reproduction ceases in mid-adulthood. Although somatic aging has been studied in both worms and humans, mechanisms regulating reproductive aging are not yet understood. Here we show that TGF-beta Sma/Mab activity regulates reproductive aging transcriptionally separable from its regulation of body size growth. This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE23446: Reproductive aging: sma-2;fem-1 day 8 oocyte vs fem-1 day 8 oocyte GSE23447: Reproductive aging: fem-1 day 3 oocyte vs fem-1 day 8 oocyte GSE23448: Body size regulation and TGF-beta Sma/Mab pathway: sma L4 vs N2 L4 Refer to individual Series
Project description:To find genes downstream of the TGF-beta Sma/Mab pathway associated with body size regulation in C. elegans. Three replicates comparing RNA from sma-2(e502) L4 whole animal with RNA from wild-type L4 whole animal, in which one is dye flipped. Plus one array comparing RNA from sma-4(e729) L4 whole animal with RNA from wild-type L4 whole animal.
Project description:Comparison of gene expression profiles from C. elegans mutant strains (MIR73, MIR75 or MIR77) overexpressing genes involved in proline metabolism (B0513.5 or T22H6.2) with wildtype strain (N2) at 5 days after L4 larvae stage. Jena Centre for Systems Biology of Ageing - JenAge (www.jenage.de)
Project description:Reproductive cessation is perhaps the earliest aging phenotypes humans experience. Similarly, C. elegans' reproduction ceases in mid-adulthood. Although somatic aging has been studied in both worms and humans, mechanisms regulating reproductive aging are not yet understood. Here we show that TGF-beta Sma/Mab activity regulates reproductive aging transcriptionally separable from its regulation of body size growth. This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
Project description:Smads and their transcription factor partners mediate the transcriptional responses of target cells to secreted ligands of the Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β) family, including those of the conserved bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family, yet only a small number of direct target genes have been well characterized. In C. elegans, the BMP2/4 ortholog DBL-1 regulates multiple biological functions, including body size, via a canonical receptor-Smad signaling cascade. Here, we identify functional binding sites for SMA-3/Smad and its transcriptional partner SMA-9/Schnurri based on ChIP-seq peaks (identified by modEncode) and expression differences of nearby genes identified from RNA-seq analysis of corresponding mutants. We found that SMA-3 and SMA-9 have both overlapping and unique target genes. At a genome-wide scale, SMA-3/Smad acts as a transcriptional activator, whereas SMA-9/Schnurri direct targets include both activated and repressed genes. Mutations in sma-9 partially suppress the small body size phenotype of sma-3, suggesting some level of antagonism between these factors and challenging the prevailing model for Schnurri function. A functional analysis of direct target genes revealed a novel role in body size for genes involved in one-carbon metabolism and in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) secretory pathway, including the disulfide reductase dpy-11. Our findings indicate that Smads and SMA-9/Schnurri have previously unappreciated complex genetic and genomic regulatory interactions that in turn regulate the secretion of extracellular components like collagen into the cuticle to mediate body size regulation.