A Caenorhabditis elegans model for epithelial-neuronal transdifferentiation

Sophie Jarriault (1) , Yannick Schwab (2) , Iva Greenwald

1 IGBMC - Institut de génétique et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire
2 IGBMC - Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire

Understanding transdifferentiation-the conversion of one differentiated cell type into another-is important from both basic science and clinical perspectives. In Caenorhabditis elegans, an epithelial cell named Y is initially part of the rectum but later appears to withdraw, migrate, and then become a motor neuron named PDA. Here, we show that this represents a bona fide transdifferentiation event: Y has epithelial hallmarks without detectable neural characteristics, and PDA has no residual epithelial characteristics. Using available mutants and laser microsurgery, we found that transdifferentiation does not depend on fusion with a neighboring cell or require migration of Y away from the rectum, that other rectal epithelial cells are not competent to transdiffer-entiate, and that transdifferentiation requires the EGL-5 and SEM-4 transcription factors and LIN-12/Notch signaling. Our results establish Y-to-PDA transdifferentiation as a genetically tractable model for deciphering the mechanisms underlying cellular plasticity in vivo. cell plasticity ͉ motor neuron ͉ rectum ͉ hindgut

Domaines: Biologie du développement; Génétique animale

Sophie Jarriault, Yannick Schwab, Iva Greenwald. A Caenorhabditis elegans model for epithelial-neuronal transdifferentiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008. ⟨hal-02413169⟩