ArticlePloS one2007
C. elegans agrin is expressed in pharynx, IL1 neurons and distal tip cells and does not genetically interact with genes involved in synaptogenesis or muscle function.
Article in PloS one, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuron-specific Agrin splicing by Nova RNA-binding proteins regulates conserved neuromuscular junction development in chordates.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- A conserved RNA switch for acetylcholine receptor clustering at neuromuscular junctions in chordates.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
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- Genetic screen identifies non-mitochondrial proteins involved in the maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis.microPublication biology · 2022Article
- Conservation and Innovation: Versatile Roles for LRP4 in Nervous System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2021Review
- Characterization of C. elegans Chondroitin Proteoglycans and Their Large Functional and Structural Heterogeneity; Evolutionary Aspects on Structural Differences Between Humans and the Nematode.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2021Review
- Comprehensive Endogenous Tagging of Basement Membrane Components Reveals Dynamic Movement within the Matrix Scaffolding.Developmental cell · 2020Article
- TheGenetics · 2019Article
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- Invading, Leading and Navigating Cells inGenetics · 2018Review
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- Basement Membranes in the Worm: A Dynamic Scaffolding that Instructs Cellular Behaviors and Shapes Tissues.Current topics in membranes · 2015Review
- Tracking the origin and divergence of cholinesterases and neuroligins: the evolution of synaptic proteins.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2014Article
- Agrin binds BMP2, BMP4 and TGFbeta1.PloS one · 2010Article
- Control of rapsyn stability by the CUL-3-containing E3 ligase complex.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2009Article
- The molecular basis of organ formation: insights from the C. elegans foregut.Annual review of cell and developmental biology · 2009Review
- Atomic force microscopy analysis of cell volume regulation.Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics · 2008Article
- Transcriptomic analysis of RDX and TNT interactive sublethal effects in the earthworm Eisenia fetida.BMC genomics · 2008Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Agrin is a basement membrane protein crucial for development and maintenance of the neuromuscular junction in vertebrates. The C. elegans genome harbors a putative agrin gene agr-1. We have cloned the corresponding cDNA to determine the primary structure of the protein and expressed its recombinant fragments to raise specific antibodies. The domain organization of AGR-1 is very similar to the vertebrate orthologues. C. elegans agrin contains a signal sequence for secretion, seven follistatin domains, three EGF-like repeats and two laminin G domains. AGR-1 loss of function mutants did not exhibit any overt phenotypes and did not acquire resistance to the acetylcholine receptor agonist levamisole. Furthermore, crossing them with various mutants for components of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex with impaired muscle function did not lead to an aggravation of the phenotypes. Promoter-GFP translational fusion as well as immunostaining of worms revealed expression of agrin in buccal epithelium and the protein deposition in the basal lamina of the pharynx. Furthermore, dorsal and ventral IL1 head neurons and distal tip cells of the gonad arms are sources of agrin production, but no expression was detectable in body muscles or in the motoneurons innervating them. Recombinant worm AGR-1 fragment is able to cluster vertebrate dystroglycan in cultured cells, implying a conservation of this interaction, but since neither of these proteins is expressed in muscle of C. elegans, this interaction may be required in different tissues. The connections between muscle cells and the basement membrane, as well as neuromuscular junctions, are structurally distinct between vertebrates and nematodes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.