UNC-84 is required to localize UNC-83 to the nuclear envelope where it functions during nuclear migration. A KASH domain in UNC-83 was identified. KASH domains are conserved in the nuclear envelope proteins Syne/nesprins, Klarsicht, MSP-300, and ANC-1. Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-83 was shown to localize to the outer nuclear membrane and UNC-84 to the inner nuclear membrane in transfected mammal...

unc-94 is one of about 40 genes in Caenorhabditis elegans that, when mutant, displays an abnormal muscle phenotype. Two mutant alleles of unc-94, su177 and sf20, show reduced motility and brood size and disorganization of muscle structure. In unc-94 mutants, immunofluorescence microscopy shows that a number of known sarcomeric proteins are abnormal, but the most dramatic effect is in the locali...

UNC-13 protein participates in regulating neurotransmitter release. In Drosophila melanogaster, proteasomal degradation controls UNC-13 levels at synapses. Function of the amino-terminal region of a 207 kDa form of Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-13 is unknown. Yeast two-hybrid and secondary yeast assays identified an F-box protein that interacts with this amino-terminal region. As F-box proteins bi...

Rim is a multi-domain, active zone protein that regulates exocytosis and is implicated in vesicle priming and presynaptic plasticity. We recently demonstrated that synaptic defects associated with loss of Caenorhabditis elegans Rim (termed UNC-10) are accompanied by a reduction in docked vesicles adjacent to the presynaptic density. Since Rim is known to interact with the vesicle-associated GTP...

In Caenorhabditis elegans the unc-87 gene encodes a protein that binds to actin at the I band and is important in nematodes for maintenance of the body-wall muscle. Caenorhabditis elegans mutant phenotypes of unc-87 exhibit severe paralysis in larvae and limp paralysis in the adult. We cloned and characterized a full-length cDNA representing a Heterodera glycines homolog of the unc-87 gene from...

During nervous system development, growth cone pioneering and fasciculation contribute to nerve bundle structure. Pioneer growth cones initially navigate along neuroglia to establish an axon scaffold that guides later extending growth cones. In C. elegans, the growth cone of the PVPR neuron pioneers the left ventral nerve cord bundle, providing a path for the embryonic extensions of the PVQL an...

Background: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been used extensively to identify the genetic requirements for proper nervous system development and function. Key to this process is the direction of vesicles to the growing axons and dendrites, which is required for growth-cone extension and synapse formation in the developing neurons. The contribution and mechanism of membrane traffic in ne...

Embryos homozygous for mutations in the unc-52, pat-2, pat-3, and unc-112 genes of C. elegans exhibit a similar Pat phenotype. Myosin and actin are not organized into sarcomeres in the body wall muscle cells of these mutants, and dense body and M-line components fail to assemble. The unc-52 (perlecan), pat-2 (alpha-integrin), and pat-3 (beta-integrin) genes encode ECM or transmembrane proteins ...

unc-93 is one of a set of five interacting genes involved in the regulation or coordination of muscle contraction in Caenorhabditis elegans. Rare altered-function alleles of unc-93 result in sluggish movement and a characteristic "rubber band" uncoordinated phenotype. By contrast, null alleles cause no visibly abnormal phenotype, presumably as a consequence of the functional redundancy of unc-9...