Depletion of syntaxins in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo reveals a role for membrane fusion events in cytokinesis

Background: During cytokinesis, the plasma membrane of the parent cell is resolved into the two plasma membranes of the daughter cells. Membrane fusion events mediated by the machinery that participates in intracellular vesicle trafficking might contribute to this process. Two classes of molecules t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current biology 1999-07, Vol.9 (14), p.738-745
Main Authors: Jantsch-Plunger, Verena, Glotzer, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Animals, Genetically Modified
Caenorhabditis elegans
Caenorhabditis elegans - embryology
Caenorhabditis elegans - physiology
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins
Cell Division - physiology
Cell Membrane - physiology
Membrane Fusion - physiology
Membrane Proteins - metabolism
Membrane Proteins - physiology
Microscopy
Microtubule-Associated Proteins - metabolism
Mutagenesis
Nuclear Envelope - physiology
Phenotype
Phylogeny
Qa-SNARE Proteins
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
RNA - analysis
Time Factors
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Summary:Background: During cytokinesis, the plasma membrane of the parent cell is resolved into the two plasma membranes of the daughter cells. Membrane fusion events mediated by the machinery that participates in intracellular vesicle trafficking might contribute to this process. Two classes of molecules that are required for membrane fusion are the t-SNAREs and the v-SNAREs. The t-SNAREs (syntaxins) comprise a multi-gene family that has been suggested to mediate, at least in part, selective membrane fusion events in the cell. Results: We have analyzed the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans and identified eight syntaxin genes. RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) was used to produce embryos deficient in individual syntaxins and these embryos were phenotypically characterized. Embryos deficient in one syntaxin, Syn-4, became multinucleate because of defects in karyomere fusion and cytokinesis. Syn-4 localized both to ingressing cleavage furrows and to punctate structures surrounding nuclei as they reformed during interphase. Conclusions: Our analyses indicate that both cytokinesis and reformation of the nuclear envelope are dependent on SNARE-mediated membrane fusion.
ISSN:0960-9822
1879-0445
DOI:10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80333-9