The Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite egg-laying system comprises several tissues, including the uterus and vulva. lin-11 encodes a LIM domain transcription factor needed for certain vulval precursor cells to divide asymmetrically. Based on lin-11 expression studies and the lin-11 mutant phenotype, we find that lin-11 is also required for C. elegans uterine morphogenesis. Specifically, lin-1...

During Caenorhabditis elegans vulval development, the anchor cell (AC) in the somatic gonad secretes an epidermal growth factor (EGF) to activate the EGF receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway in the adjacent vulval precursor cells (VPCs). The inductive AC signal specifies the vulval fates of the three proximal VPCs P5.p, P6.p, and P7.p. The C. elegans Rhomboid homolog ROM-1 increases the range of E...

BACKGROUND Biological networks experience quantitative change in response to environmental and evolutionary variation. Computational modeling allows exploration of network parameter space corresponding to such variations. The intercellular signaling network underlying Caenorhabditis vulval development specifies three fates in a row of six precursor cells, yielding a quasi-invariant 3°3°2°1°2°3°...

This pilot study set out to determine the feasibility of using patient-collected vulval swabs, instead of urine, for the diagnosis of female Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Main outcome measures included prevalence of infection and sensitivity, specificity, and acceptability of both test methods. An assessment was also made of those who declined to be tested. Consecutive women under 25 years o...

In C. elegans, the RAS/MAPK pathway is used in different tissues to regulate various cell fate decisions. Several positive and negative regulators tightly control the activity of the RAS/MAPK pathway at different steps. We demonstrate a link between a G-protein-coupled receptor signalling pathway and the RAS/MAPK cascade. SRA-13, a member of the SRA family of chemosensory receptors, negatively ...

UNLABELLED The present work was AIMED on the study of human beta-defensin 3 (hBD-3) gene expression in A431 cell line and human vulval tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty surgical specimens of both malignant and conventionally normal human vulval tissues have been analyzed for the presence of hBD-3 mRNA by semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In vitro e...

Development of the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva serves as a paradigm for intercellular signaling during animal development. In wild-type animals, the somatic gonadal anchor cell generates the LIN-3/EGF ligand to induce vulval fates in the underlying hypodermis, whereas FBF, FOG-1, and FOG-3 control germ-line development. Here we report that FBF functions redundantly with FOG-1 and FOG-3 to cont...

During C. elegans vulval development, the anchor cell (AC) in the somatic gonad expresses lin-3, activating the EGF receptor signaling pathway in vulval precursor cells (VPCs) and thereby inducing and patterning VPCs. Previous studies with lin-3 mutants and transgene expression have revealed that the level of LIN-3 in the AC must be precisely regulated for proper vulval development. To understa...

From nematodes to humans, animals employ neuromodulators like serotonin to regulate behavioral patterns and states. In the nematode C. elegans, serotonin has been shown to act in a modulatory fashion to increase the rate and alter the temporal pattern of egg laying. Though many candidate effectors and regulators of serotonin have been identified in genetic studies, their effects on specific neu...

One system that can be used to study the evolution of gene function is the nematode vulva. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the vulva is formed from three of the six multipotent precursors P(3-8).p. Comparison of vulval development between C. elegans and Pristionchus pacificus has revealed that, during evolution, there have been changes in the specification of cell fate for certain vulval cells. For ...