CGC Bibliography Paper 5004

Three C. elegans RAC proteins and several alternative RAC regulators control axon guidance, cell migration and apoptotic cell phagocytosis.

Lundquist EA, Reddien PW, Hartwieg E, Horvitz HR, Bargmann CI

Medline:

11714673

Citation:

Development 128: 4475-4488 2001

Type:

ARTICLE

Genes:

ced-2 ced-5 ced-10 mig-2 rac-2 rac-3 unc-73

Abstract:

The Caenorhabditis elegans genome contains three rac-like genes, ced-10, mig-2, and rac-2. We report that ced-10, mig-2 and rac-2 act redundantly in axon pathfinding: inactivating one gene had little effect, but inactivating two or more genes perturbed both axon outgrowth and guidance. mig-2 and ced-10 also have redundant functions in some cell migrations. By contrast, ced-10 is uniquely required for cell-corpse phagocytosis, and mig-2 and rac-2 have only subtle roles in this process. Rac activators are also used differentially. The UNC-73 Trio Rac GTP exchange factor affected all Rac pathways in axon pathfinding and cell migration but did not affect cell-corpse phagocytosis. CED-5 DOCK180, which acts with CED-10 Rac in cell-corpse phagocytosis, acted with MIG-2 but not CED-10 in axon pathfinding. Thus, distinct regulatory proteins modulate Rac activation and function in different developmental processes.