Intermediate filament network perturbation in the C. elegans intestine causes systemic dysfunctions

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Abstract

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are major components of the metazoan cytoskeleton. A long-standing debate concerns the question whether IF network organization only reflects or also determines cell and tissue function. Using C. elegans, we have recently described mutants of the MAPK SMA-5 which perturb the organization of the intestinal IF cytoskeleton resulting in luminal widening and cytoplasmic invaginations. Besides these structural phenotypes, systemic dysfunctions were also observed. We now identify the IF polypeptide IFB-2 as a highly efficient suppressor of both the structural and functional deficiencies of sma-5 animals, by removing the aberrant IF network. Mechanistically, perturbed IF network morphogenesis is linked to hyperphosphorylation of multiple sites throughout the entire IFB-2 molecule. The rescuing capability is IF isotype-specific and not restricted to SMA-5 mutants but extends to mutants that disrupt the function of the cytoskeletal linker IFO-1 and the IF-associated protein BBLN1. The findings provide strong evidence for adverse consequences of the deranged IF networks with implications for diseases that are characterized by altered IF network organization.

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Florian Geisler

Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Sanne Remmelzwaal

Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

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The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Vera Jankowski

Institute for Molecular Cardiovascular Research, Universitätsklinikum Aachen, Aachen, Germany

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The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Ruben Schmidt

Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

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The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9187-5424
Mike Boxem

Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-3966-4173
Rudolf E Leube

Institute of Molecular and Cellular Anatomy, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

For correspondence
rleube@ukaachen.de

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The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5519-7379

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (LE566/14-1,3)

Rudolf E Leube

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek ((NWO)-VICI 016.VICI.170.165)

Mike Boxem

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (INST 948/4S-1)

Vera Jankowski

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

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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.