Intermediate Filaments in Caenorhabditis elegans

Noam Zuela; Yosef Gruenbaum

doi:10.1016/bs.mie.2015.09.020

Intermediate Filaments in Caenorhabditis elegans

Methods Enzymol. 2016:568:661-79. doi: 10.1016/bs.mie.2015.09.020. Epub 2015 Nov 3.

Authors

Noam Zuela¹, Yosef Gruenbaum²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Genetics, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
² Department of Genetics, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: gru@vms.huji.ac.il.

PMID: 26795488
DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2015.09.020

Abstract

More than 70 different genes in humans and 12 different genes in Caenorhabditis elegans encode the superfamily of intermediate filament (IF) proteins. In C. elegans, similar to humans, these proteins are expressed in a cell- and tissue-specific manner, can assemble into heteropolymers and into 5-10nm wide filaments that account for the principal structural elements at the nuclear periphery, nucleoplasm, and cytoplasm. At least 5 of the 11 cytoplasmic IFs, as well as the nuclear IF, lamin, are essential. In this chapter, we will include a short review of our current knowledge of both cytoplasmic and nuclear IFs in C. elegans and will describe techniques used for their analyses.

Keywords: Animal development; Cell mechanics; Filament assembly; Lamin.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Caenorhabditis elegans / metabolism*
Intermediate Filaments / chemistry
Intermediate Filaments / metabolism*
Lamins / metabolism

Substances

Lamins