Phenotypic robustness of epidermal stem cell number in C. elegans Is modulated by the activity of the conserved N-acetyltransferase nath-10/NAT10
Author(s)
Hintze, Mark
Katsanos, Dimitris
Shahrezaei, Vahid
Barkoulas, Michalis
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Individual cells and organisms experience perturbations from internal and external sources, yet manage to buffer these to produce consistent phenotypes, a property known as robustness. While phenotypic robustness has often been examined in unicellular organisms, it has not been sufficiently studied in multicellular animals. Here, we investigate phenotypic robustness in Caenorhabditis elegans seam cells. Seam cells are stem cell-like epithelial cells along the lateral edges of the animal, which go through asymmetric and symmetric divisions contributing cells to the hypodermis and neurons, while replenishing the stem cell reservoir. The terminal number of seam cells is almost invariant in the wild-type population, allowing the investigation of how developmental precision is achieved. We report here that a loss-of-function mutation in the highly conserved N-acetyltransferase nath-10/NAT10 increases seam cell number variance in the isogenic population. RNA-seq analysis revealed increased levels of mRNA transcript variability in nath-10 mutant populations, which may have an impact on the phenotypic variability observed. Furthermore, we found disruption of Wnt signaling upon perturbing nath-10 function, as evidenced by changes in POP-1/TCF nuclear distribution and ectopic activation of its GATA transcription factor target egl-18. These results highlight that NATH-10/NAT-10 can influence phenotypic variability partly through modulation of the Wnt signaling pathway.
Date Issued
2021-05-18
Date Acceptance
2021-04-19
Citation
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2021, 9, pp.1-14
ISSN
2296-634X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Start Page
1
End Page
14
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Hintze, Katsanos, Shahrezaei and Barkoulas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
License URL
Sponsor
Commission of the European Communities
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000656570700001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
639485
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
developmental robustness
seam cells
epidermis
stem cells
C
elegans
nath-10
NAT10
Wnt signaling
ASYMMETRIC DIVISIONS
RIBOSOMAL-RNA
SELF-RENEWAL
SEAM CELLS
PROTEIN
DIFFERENTIATION
LOCALIZATION
ACETYLATION
NEMATODE
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 640856
Date Publish Online
2021-05-18