Neuronal post-developmentally acting SAX-7S/L1CAM can function as cleaved fragments to maintain neuronal architecture in C. elegans
Authors
Desse, Virginie E.Blanchette, Cassandra R.
Nadour, Malika
Perrat, Paola N.
Rivollet, Lise
Khandekar, Anagha
Benard, Claire Y.
Student Authors
Cassandra BlanchettePaola Perrat
Academic Program
NeuroscienceDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2021-06-11Keywords
IgL1
cleavage
lifelong
neuronal maintenance
sax-7
Developmental Biology
Developmental Neuroscience
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Whereas remarkable advances have uncovered mechanisms that drive nervous system assembly, the processes responsible for the lifelong maintenance of nervous system architecture remain poorly understood. Subsequent to its establishment during embryogenesis, neuronal architecture is maintained throughout life in the face of the animal's growth, maturation processes, the addition of new neurons, body movements, and aging. The C. elegans protein SAX-7, homologous to the vertebrate L1 protein family of neural adhesion molecules, is required for maintaining the organization of neuronal ganglia and fascicles after their successful initial embryonic development. To dissect the function of sax-7 in neuronal maintenance, we generated a null allele and sax-7S-isoform-specific alleles. We find that the null sax-7(qv30) is, in some contexts, more severe than previously described mutant alleles, and that the loss of sax-7S largely phenocopies the null, consistent with sax-7S being the key isoform in neuronal maintenance. Using a sfGFP::SAX-7S knock-in, we observe sax-7S to be predominantly expressed across the nervous system, from embryogenesis to adulthood. Yet, its role in maintaining neuronal organization is ensured by post-developmentally acting SAX-7S, as larval transgenic sax-7S(+) expression alone is sufficient to profoundly rescue the null mutants' neuronal maintenance defects. Moreover, the majority of the protein SAX-7 appears to be cleaved, and we show that these cleaved SAX-7S fragments together, not individually, can fully support neuronal maintenance. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of the conserved protein SAX-7/L1CAM in long-term neuronal maintenance, and may help decipher processes that go awry in some neurodegenerative conditions.Source
Desse VE, Blanchette CR, Nadour M, Perrat P, Rivollet L, Khandekar A, Bénard CY. Neuronal post-developmentally acting SAX-7S/L1CAM can function as cleaved fragments to maintain neuronal architecture in C. elegans. Genetics. 2021 Jun 11:iyab086. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyab086. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34115111. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1093/genetics/iyab086Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/37990PubMed ID
34115111Notes
This article is based on a previously available preprint on bioRxiv that is also available in eScholarship@UMMS.
Related Resources
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10.1093/genetics/iyab086