JCB logo
R&D Systems
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
Published online October 1, 2007
doi:10.1083/jcb.200707085
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 179, No. 1, 15-22
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© 2007 Couwenbergs et al.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow PDF (Full Text)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Supplemental Material Index
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JCB
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Couwenbergs, C.
Right arrow Articles by Gotta, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Couwenbergs, C.
Right arrow Articles by Gotta, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Report

 Heterotrimeric G protein signaling functions with dynein to promote spindle positioning in C. elegans

Claudia Couwenbergs1, Jean-Claude Labbé1, Morgan Goulding2, Thomas Marty1, Bruce Bowerman2, and Monica Gotta1,3

1 ETH Zurich, Institute of Biochemistry, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
2 Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
3 Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva School of Medicine, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland

Correspondence to Monica Gotta: monica.gotta{at}bc.biol.ethz.ch

Proper orientation and positioning of the mitotic spindle is essential for the correct segregation of fate determinants during asymmetric cell division. Although heterotrimeric G proteins and their regulators are essential for spindle positioning in many cell types, their mechanism of action remains unclear. In this study, we show that dyrb-1, which encodes a dynein light chain, provides a functional link between heterotrimeric G protein signaling and dynein activity during spindle positioning in Caenorhabditis elegans. Embryos depleted of dyrb-1 display phenotypes similar to a weak loss of function of dynein activity, indicating that DYRB-1 is a positive regulator of dynein. We find that the depletion of dyrb-1 enhances the spindle positioning defect of weak loss of function alleles of two regulators of G protein signaling, LIN-5 and GPR-1/2, and that DYRB-1 physically associates with these two proteins. These results indicate that dynein activity functions with regulators of G protein signaling to regulate common downstream effectors during spindle positioning in the early C. elegans embryo.

C. Couwenbergs and J.-C. Labbé contributed equally to this paper.

J.-C. Labbé's present address is Institut de recherche en immunologie et cancérologie, Université de Montréal, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Quebec H3C 3J7, Canada.

T. Marty's present address is Swiss Contact Office for Research and Higher Education, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Abbreviations used in this paper: DIC, differential interference contrast; dsRNA, double-stranded RNA; NGM, nematode growth medium; NuMA, nuclear mitotic apparatus.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:



  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents