The Caenorhabditis elegans gene lin-17, which is required for certain asymmetric cell divisions, encodes a putative seven-transmembrane protein similar to the Drosophila Frizzled protein

Hitoshi Sawa, Leslie Lobel, H. Robert Horvitz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

169 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mutations in the gene lin-17 result in the disruption of a variety of asymmetric cell divisions in Caenorhabditis elegans. We have found that lin- 17 encodes a protein with seven putative transmembrane domains. The LIN-17 protein is most similar to the Drosophila Frizzled protein and its vertebrate homologs. Studies using a lin-17-green fluorescent protein translational fusion indicate that lin-17 is expressed in mother cells before asymmetric cell divisions and in both daughter cells after the divisions. Our results suggest that lin-17 encodes a receptor that regulates the polarities of cells undergoing asymmetric cell divisions and raise the possibility that the LIN- 17 protein acts as a receptor for the Wnt protein LIN-44, which also controls asymmetric cell divisions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2189-2197
Number of pages9
JournalGenes and Development
Volume10
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1996
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Asymmetric cell division
  • C. elegans
  • Wnt genes
  • cell polarity
  • frizzled
  • lin-17
  • lin-44

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Developmental Biology

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