C. elegans slit acts in midline, dorsal-ventral, and anterior-posterior guidance via the SAX-3/Robo receptor

Joe C. Hao, Timothy W. Yu, Kazuko Fujisawa, Joseph G. Culotti, Keiko Gengyo-Ando, Shohei Mitani, Gary Moulder, Robert Barstead, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Cornelia I. Bargmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

190 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Robo receptors interact with ligands of the Slit family. The nematode C. elegans has one Robo receptor (SAX-3) and one Slit protein (SLT-1), which direct ventral axon guidance and guidance at the midline. In larvae, slt-1 expression in dorsal muscles repels axons to promote ventral guidance. SLT-1 acts through the SAX-3 receptor, in parallel with the ventral attractant UNC-6 (Netrin). Removing both UNC-6 and SLT-1 eliminates all ventral guidance information for some axons, revealing an underlying longitudinal guidance pathway. In the embryo, slt-1 is expressed at high levels in anterior epidermis. Embryonic expression of SLT-1 provides anterior-posterior guidance information to migrating CAN neurons. Surprisingly, slt-1 mutants do not exhibit the nerve ring and epithelial defects of sax-3 mutants, suggesting that SAX-3 has both Slit-dependent and Slit-independent functions in development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-38
Number of pages14
JournalNeuron
Volume32
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2001

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