C. elegans STRADα and SAD cooperatively regulate neuronal polarity and synaptic organization
C. elegans STRADα and SAD cooperatively regulate neuronal polarity and synaptic organization
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DOI:
10.1242/dev.041459
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发表时间:
2010-01-01
期刊:
影响因子:
4.6
通讯作者:
Zhen, Mei
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Kim, Joanne S. M.;Hung, Wesley;Zhen, Mei
Neurons are polarized cells with morphologically and functionally distinct axons and dendrites. The SAD kinases are crucial for establishing the axon-dendrite identity across species. Previous studies suggest that a tumour suppressor kinase, LKB1, in the presence of a pseudokinase, STRAD alpha, initiates axonal differentiation and growth through activating the SAD kinases in vertebrate neurons. STRAD alpha was implicated in the localization, stabilization and activation of LKB1 in various cell culture studies. Its in vivo functions, however, have not been examined. In our present study, we analyzed the neuronal phenotypes of the first loss-of-function mutants for STRAD alpha and examined their genetic interactions with LKB1 and SAD in C. elegans. Unexpectedly, only the C. elegans STRAD alpha, STRD-1, functions exclusively through the SAD kinase, SAD-1, to regulate neuronal polarity and synaptic organization. Moreover, STRD-1 tightly associates with SAD-1 to coordinate its synaptic localizations. By contrast, the C. elegans LKB1, PAR-4, also functions in an additional genetic pathway independently of SAD-1 and STRD-1 to regulate neuronal polarity. We propose that STRD-1 establishes neuronal polarity and organizes synaptic proteins in a complex with the SAD-1 kinase. Our findings suggest that instead of a single, linear genetic pathway, STRAD alpha and LKB1 regulate neuronal development through multiple effectors that are shared in some cellular contexts but distinct in others.