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Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2004, p. 7345-7358, Vol. 24, No. 17
0270-7306/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.17.7345-7358.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Caenorhabditis elegans Nuclear Receptor Gene nhr-25 Regulates Epidermal Cell Development

Zhe Chen ,{dagger},{ddagger} Dennis J. Eastburn,{dagger} and Min Han*

Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado

Received 5 March 2004/ Returned for modification 23 April 2004/ Accepted 1 June 2004

The development of the epidermis of Caenorhabditis elegans involves cell fusion, migration, and differentiation events. To understand the mechanisms underlying these processes, we characterized the roles of NHR-25, a member of the nuclear receptor family of transcription factors. The NHR-25 homologs Ftz-F1 in Drosophila and SF-1 in mammals are involved in various biological processes, including regulation of patterning during development, reproduction, metabolism, metamorphosis, and homeostasis. Impairment of nhr-25 activity leads to severe phenotypes in embryos and many postembryonic tissues. Further analysis has indicated that nhr-25 activity is required for the proper development, including cell-cell fusion, of several epidermal cell types, such as the epidermal syncytial, seam, and Pn.p cells. Our results also suggest that nhr-25 is likely to regulate cell-cell junctions and/or fusion. In a subset of Pn.p cells, called vulval precursor cells, nhr-25 acts collaboratively with the lin-39 Hox gene in regulating vulval cell differentiation. Additionally, our data suggest that nhr-25 may also function with another Hox gene, nob-1, during embryogenesis. Overall, our results indicate that nhr-25 plays an integral role in regulating cellular processes of epidermal cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309. Phone: (303) 492-2261. Fax: (303) 735-0175. E-mail: Mhan{at}colorado.edu.

{dagger} Z.C. and D.J.E. contributed equally to this work.

{ddagger} Present address: Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, Calif.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, September 2004, p. 7345-7358, Vol. 24, No. 17
0022-538X/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/MCB.24.17.7345-7358.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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