Epidermal PAR-6 and PKC-3 are essential for larval development of C. elegans and organize non-centrosomal microtubules
Abstract
The cortical polarity regulators PAR-6, PKC-3, and PAR-3 are essential for the polarization of a broad variety of cell types in multicellular animals. In C. elegans, the roles of the PAR proteins in embryonic development have been extensively studied, yet little is known about their functions during larval development. Using inducible protein degradation, we show that PAR-6 and PKC-3, but not PAR-3, are essential for postembryonic development. PAR-6 and PKC-3 are required in the epidermal epithelium for animal growth, molting, and the proper pattern of seam-cell divisions. Finally, we uncovered a novel role for PAR-6 in organizing non-centrosomal microtubule arrays in the epidermis. PAR-6 was required for the localization of the microtubule organizer NOCA-1/Ninein, and defects in a noca-1 mutant are highly similar to those caused by epidermal PAR-6 depletion. As NOCA-1 physically interacts with PAR-6, we propose that PAR-6 promotes non-centrosomal microtubule organization through localization of NOCA-1/Ninein.
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All quantative data generated during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. All microscopy images shown are supplied as source data files.
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Author details
Funding
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (824.14.021)
- Mike Boxem
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (016.VICI.170.165)
- Mike Boxem
H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (ITN 675407)
- Mike Boxem
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2020, Castiglioni et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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