Journal Article

The Wnt Pathway Controls Cell Death Engulfment, Spindle Orientation, and Migration through CED-10/Rac

Hengartner, Michael O., Cabello, Juan, Charette, Steve J., Neukomm, Lukas J., Burkart, Katharina, Schnabel, Ralf, Lochnit, Günter, Günesdogan, Ufuk

2010

Overview

Wnt signalling pathways have extremely diverse functions in animals, including induction of cell fates or tumours, guidance of cell movements during gastrulation, and the induction of cell polarity. Wnt can induce polar changes in cellular morphology by a remodelling of the cytoskeleton. However, how activation of the Frizzled receptor induces cytoskeleton rearrangement is not well understood. We show, by an in depth 4-D microscopy analysis, that the Caenorhabditis elegans Wnt pathway signals to CED-10/Rac via two separate branches to regulate modulation of the cytoskeleton in different cellular situations. Apoptotic cell clearance and migration of the distal tip cell require the MOM-5/Fz receptor, GSK-3 kinase, and APC/APR-1, which activate the CED-2/5/12 branch of the engulfment machinery. MOM-5 (Frizzled) thus can function as an engulfment receptor in C. elegans. Our epistatic analyses also suggest that the two partially redundant signalling pathways defined earlier for engulfment may act in a single pathway in early embryos. By contrast, rearrangement of mitotic spindles requires the MOM-5/Fz receptor, GSK-3 kinase, and beta-catenins, but not the downstream factors LIT-1/NLK or POP-1/Tcf. Taken together, our results indicate that in multiple developmental processes, CED-10/Rac can link polar signals mediated by the Wnt pathway to rearrangements of the cytoskeleton.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: ABC transporters / Animals / Apoptosis / Apoptosis - genetics / Apoptosis - physiology / beta Catenin - genetics / beta Catenin - metabolism / Biochemistry / Caenorhabditis elegans - cytology / Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics / Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism / Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics / Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism / Cell Biology/Cell Signaling / Cell Biology/Cytoskeleton / Developmental Biology / Developmental Biology/Cell Differentiation / Developmental Biology/Embryology / DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics / DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism / Experiments / High Mobility Group Proteins - genetics / High Mobility Group Proteins - metabolism / Kinases / Medical research / Membrane Proteins - genetics / Membrane Proteins - metabolism / Microscopy / Mutation / Observations / Physiological aspects / Properties / Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics / Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism / rac GTP-Binding Proteins - genetics / rac GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism / RNA Interference / Signal transduction / Signal Transduction - genetics / Signal Transduction - physiology / Spindle Apparatus - metabolism / Tumors / Two-Hybrid System Techniques / Wnt proteins / Wnt Proteins - genetics / Wnt Proteins - metabolism