Work

Integrated control of protein degradation in C. elegans muscle

Year: 2012

Type: review

Abstract: Protein degradation is a fundamental cellular process, the genomic control of which is incompletely understood. The advent of transgene-coded reporter proteins has enabled the development of C. elegans into a model for studying this problem. The regulation of muscle protein degradation is surprisingly complex, integrating multiple signals from hypodermis, intestine, neurons and muscle itself. Within the muscle, degradation is executed by separately regulated autophagy-lysosomal, ubiquitin-proteasome and calpain-mediated systems. The signal-transduction mechanisms, in some instances, involve modules previously identified for their roles in developmental processes, repurposed in terminally differentiated muscle to regulate the activities of pre-formed proteins. Here we review the genes, and mechanisms, which appear to coordinately control protein degradation within C. elegans muscle. We also consider these mechanisms in the context of development, physiology, pathophysiology and disease models.

Source: Worm

DOI: 10.4161/worm.20465

Authors: Susann Lehmann, Freya Shephard, Lewis A. Jacobson, Nathaniel J. Szewczyk

Institutions: University of Nottingham, Royal Derby Hospital, Arthritis Research UK, Medical Research Council, University of Pittsburgh

Language: English

Topic: Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms

Subfield: Aging

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

Award: Gene Networks Regulating Muscle Protein Degradation