The DEAD Box RNA helicase VBH-1 is a new player in the stress response in C. elegans

• Published in: PloS one 2014-05, Vol.9 (5), p.e97924-e97924
• Main Authors: Paz-Gómez, Daniel, Villanueva-Chimal, Emmanuel, Navarro, Rosa E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregates; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Apoptosis; Bands; Biology and Life Sciences; Blastomeres; Caenorhabditis elegans; Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - chemistry; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics; Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism; Cell cycle; Cell survival; Cytoplasm; DEAD-box RNA Helicases - chemistry; DEAD-box RNA Helicases - genetics; DEAD-box RNA Helicases - metabolism; Defective mutant; DNA helicase; Drosophila melanogaster; Embryogenesis; Embryonic development; Embryonic growth stage; Embryos; Experiments; Fertility; Gametogenesis; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Genetics; Germ cells; Gonads - metabolism; Granule cells; Heat shock proteins; Heat-Shock Proteins - genetics; Homology; Molecular weight; Nematodes; Oocytes; Oxidative stress; Protein Binding; Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; Protein Transport; Proteins; Research and Analysis Methods; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA helicase; RNA Interference; RNA Nucleotidyltransferases - metabolism; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Spermatogenesis; Stem cells; Stress response; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Survival; Vasa protein; Worms
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097924

For several years, DEAD box RNA helicase Vasa (DDX4) has been used as a bona fide germline marker in different organisms. C. elegans VBH-1 is a close homolog of the Vasa protein, which plays an important role in gametogenesis, germ cell survival and embryonic development. Here, we show that VBH-1 protects nematodes from heat shock and oxidative stress. Using the germline-defective mutant glp-4(bn2) we found that a potential somatic expression of vbh-1 might be important for stress survival. We also show that the VBH-1 paralog LAF-1 is important for stress survival, although this protein is not redundant with its counterpart. Furthermore, we observed that the mRNAs of the heat shock proteins hsp-1 and sip-1 are downregulated when vbh-1 or laf-1 are silenced. Previously, we reported that in C. elegans, VBH-1 was primarily expressed in P granules of germ cells and in the cytoplasm of all blastomeres. Here we show that during stress, VBH-1 co-localizes with CGH-1 in large aggregates in the gonad core and oocytes; however, VBH-1 aggregates do not overlap with CGH-1 foci in early embryos under the same conditions. These data demonstrate that, in addition to the previously described role for this protein in the germline, VBH-1 plays an important role during the stress response in C. elegans through the potential direct or indirect regulation of stress response mRNAs.