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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/1999//45 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 144, Number 1, , 1999 45-57


Article

A Conserved LIM Protein That Affects Muscular Adherens Junction Integrity and Mechanosensory Function in Caenorhabditis elegans



Oliver Hobert*, Donald G. Moerman{ddagger}, Kathleen A. Clark§, Mary C. Beckerle§, and Gary Ruvkun*

* Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114; {ddagger} Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4; and § Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112

We describe here the molecular and functional characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans unc-97 gene, whose gene product constitutes a novel component of muscular adherens junctions. UNC-97 and homologues from several other species define the PINCH family, a family of LIM proteins whose modular composition of five LIM domains implicates them as potential adapter molecules. unc-97 expression is restricted to tissue types that attach to the hypodermis, specifically body wall muscles, vulval muscles, and mechanosensory neurons. In body wall muscles, the UNC-97 protein colocalizes with the β-integrin PAT-3 to the focal adhesion-like attachment sites of muscles. Partial and complete loss-of-function studies demonstrate that UNC-97 affects the structural integrity of the integrin containing muscle adherens junctions and contributes to the mechanosensory functions of touch neurons. The expression of a Drosophila homologue of unc-97 in two integrin containing cell types, muscles, and muscle-attached epidermal cells, suggests that unc-97 function in adherens junction assembly and stability has been conserved across phylogeny. In addition to its localization to adherens junctions UNC-97 can also be detected in the nucleus, suggesting multiple functions for this LIM domain protein.

Key Words: LIM domains • UNC-97 • muscle development • adherens junction • touch neuron



Abbreviations used in this paper: EST, expressed sequence tag; GFP, green fluorescent protein; LIM, LIN-11, ISL-1, MEC-3; MEC, mechanosensory; PAT, paralyzed and arrested at twofold stage; RNAi, RNA interference; UNC, uncoordinated.



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