C. elegans EOR-1/PLZF and EOR-2 positively regulate Ras and Wnt signaling and function redundantly with LIN-25 and the SUR-2 Mediator component (original) (raw)

  1. Robyn M. Howard and
  2. Meera V. Sundaram1
  3. Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Abstract

In Caenorhabditis elegans, Ras/ERK and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways cooperate to induce P12 and vulval cell fates in a Hox-dependent manner. Here we describe eor-1 and eor-2, two new positively acting nuclear components of the Ras and Wnt pathways. eor-1 and eor-2 act downstream or in parallel to ERK and function redundantly with the Mediator complex gene_sur-2_ and the functionally related gene lin-25, such that removal of both eor-1/eor-2 and sur-2/lin-25_mimics the removal of a main Ras pathway component. Furthermore, the_eor-1 and eor-2 mutant backgrounds reveal an essential role for the Elk1-related gene lin-1. eor-1 and_eor-2_ also act downstream or in parallel to pry-1 Axin and therefore act at the convergence of the Ras and Wnt pathways.eor-1 encodes the ortholog of human PLZF, a BTB/zinc-finger transcription factor that is fused to RARα in acute promyelocytic leukemia.eor-2 encodes a novel protein. EOR-1/PLZF and EOR-2 appear to function closely together and cooperate with Hox genes to promote the expression of Ras- and Wnt-responsive genes. Further studies of eor-1 and eor-2 may provide insight into the roles of PLZF in normal development and leukemogenesis.

Footnotes