TY - JOUR
T1 - A Calcium Wave Mediated by Gap Junctions Coordinates a Rhythmic Behavior in C. elegans
AU - Peters, Maureen A.
AU - Teramoto, Takayuki
AU - White, Jamie Q.
AU - Iwasaki, Kouichi
AU - Jorgensen, Erik M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Paola Dal Santo Nix and Matthew Miller for initial mapping experiments, Jim Lechleiter for inverse pericam and helpful advice, Nels Jorgensen for electron microscopy, Glen Ernstrom for imaging assistance, Ewa Bednarek for statistical advice, M. Wayne Davis for critical readings of this manuscript, and all Jorgensen laboratory members for helpful suggestions. The allele tm1589 was isolated by the National Bioresource Project for the Experimental Animal “Nematode C. elegans ” in Japan. A. Coulson and the Sanger Center provided cosmid clones. Some strains used in this work were provided by the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Research Resources (NCRR). This work was supported by a NIH Grant MH60997 (E.M.J.), a NIH NRSA GM64222-01 (M.A.P.), and Northwestern University Funds (K.I.). K.I. is a Kyakuin-Kenkyuin Scientist of the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology in Japan. E.M.J. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Correspondence and request for materials should be addressed to jorgensen@biology.utah.edu .
PY - 2007/9/18
Y1 - 2007/9/18
N2 - Intercellular calcium waves can be observed in adult tissues, but whether they are instructive, permissive, or even required for behavior is predominantly unknown. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a periodic calcium spike in a pacemaker cell initiates a calcium wave in the intestine [1, 2]. The calcium wave is followed by three muscle contractions that comprise the defecation motor program [1]. Normal wave propagation requires the pannexin gap-junction subunit INX-16 at the interfaces of the intestinal cells. In the absence of this gap-junction subunit, calcium waves are frequently absent. The remaining waves are slow, initiate at abnormal locations, or travel in the opposite direction. Abnormal waves are associated with parallel effects in the first step of the motor program: The contractions of the overlying muscles fail to propagate beyond the pacemaker cell, are slow, initiate in abnormal locations, or are reversed. Moreover, the last two motor steps are predominantly absent. Finally, the absence of this gap-junction subunit also affects the reliability of the pacemaker cell; cycle timing is often irregular. These data demonstrate that pannexin gap junctions propagate calcium waves in the C. elegans intestine. The calcium waves instruct the motor steps and regulate the pacemaker cell's authority and reliability.
AB - Intercellular calcium waves can be observed in adult tissues, but whether they are instructive, permissive, or even required for behavior is predominantly unknown. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a periodic calcium spike in a pacemaker cell initiates a calcium wave in the intestine [1, 2]. The calcium wave is followed by three muscle contractions that comprise the defecation motor program [1]. Normal wave propagation requires the pannexin gap-junction subunit INX-16 at the interfaces of the intestinal cells. In the absence of this gap-junction subunit, calcium waves are frequently absent. The remaining waves are slow, initiate at abnormal locations, or travel in the opposite direction. Abnormal waves are associated with parallel effects in the first step of the motor program: The contractions of the overlying muscles fail to propagate beyond the pacemaker cell, are slow, initiate in abnormal locations, or are reversed. Moreover, the last two motor steps are predominantly absent. Finally, the absence of this gap-junction subunit also affects the reliability of the pacemaker cell; cycle timing is often irregular. These data demonstrate that pannexin gap junctions propagate calcium waves in the C. elegans intestine. The calcium waves instruct the motor steps and regulate the pacemaker cell's authority and reliability.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.031
DO - 10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.031
M3 - Article
C2 - 17825560
AN - SCOPUS:34548510601
VL - 17
SP - 1601
EP - 1608
JO - Current Biology
JF - Current Biology
SN - 0960-9822
IS - 18
ER -