Letter abstract


Nature Cell Biology 6, 31 - 37 (2003)
Published online: 21 December 2003 | doi:10.1038/ncb1079

An NDPase links ADAM protease glycosylation with organ morphogenesis in C. elegans

Kiyoji Nishiwaki1, Yukihiko Kubota1, Yuko Chigira2, Samir Kumar Roy2, Maho Suzuki3, Mara Schvarzstein4, Yoshifumi Jigami2, Naoki Hisamoto3 & Kunihiro Matsumoto3

Top

In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the gonad acquires two U-shaped arms through the directed migration of its distal tip cells (DTCs), which are located at the tip of the growing gonad arms1. A member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease) family, MIG-17, regulates directional migration of DTCs: MIG-17 is synthesized and secreted from the muscle cells of the body wall, and diffuses to the gonad where it is required for DTC migration2. The mig-23 mutation causes defective migration of DTCs and interacts genetically with mig-17. Here, we report that mig-23 encodes a membrane-bound nucleoside diphosphatase (NDPase) required for glycosylation and proper localization of MIG-17. Our findings indicate that an NDPase affects organ morphogenesis through glycosylation of the MIG-17 ADAM protease.

Top
  1. RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology and PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
  2. Research Center for Glycoscience, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST Central 6, Tsukuba 305-8566, Japan.
  3. Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate school of Science, Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University, and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
  4. Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A8.

Correspondence to: Kiyoji Nishiwaki1 e-mail: nishiwak@cdb.riken.go.jp



MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Sweet control of cell migration, cytokinesis and organogenesis

Nature Cell Biology News and Views (01 Jan 2004)


Extra navigation

Subscribe to Nature Cell Biology

Subscribe

Open Innovation Challenges