ArticleDevelopmental biology2025
The Pax transcription factor EGL-38 links EGFR signaling to assembly of a cell type-specific apical extracellular matrix in the Caenorhabditis elegans vulva.
Article in Developmental biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Lipocalin and a Hedgehog-related protein are partners in thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Reciprocal E-cadherin signaling aligns apical surfaces between neighboring epithelial tissues to complete the C. elegans digestive tract.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Systematic identification of oscillatory gene expression in single cell types.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Multiscale patterning of a model apical extracellular matrix revealed by systematic endogenous protein tagging.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
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Abstract
The surface of epithelial tissues is covered by an apical extracellular matrix (aECM). The aECMs of different tissues have distinct compositions to serve distinct functions, yet how a particular cell type assembles the proper aECM is not well understood. We used the cell type-specific matrix of the C. elegans vulva to investigate the connection between cell identity and matrix assembly. The vulva is an epithelial tube composed of seven cell types descending from EGFR/Ras-dependent (1°) and Notch-dependent (2°) lineages. Vulva aECM contains multiple Zona Pellucida domain (ZP) proteins, which are a common component of aECMs across life. ZP proteins LET-653 and CUTL-18 assemble on 1° cell surfaces, while NOAH-1 assembles on a subset of 2° surfaces. All three ZP genes are broadly transcribed, indicating that cell type-specific ZP assembly must be determined by features of the destination cell surface. The paired box (Pax) transcription factor EGL-38 promotes assembly of 1° matrix and prevents inappropriate assembly of 2° matrix, suggesting that EGL-38 promotes expression of one or more ZP matrix organizers. Our results connect the known signaling pathways and various downstream effectors to EGL-38/Pax expression and the ZP matrix component of vulva cell fate execution. We propose that dedicated transcriptional networks may contribute to cell-appropriate assembly of aECM in many epithelial organs.
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