Nidogen is nonessential and not required for normal type IV collagen localization in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Nidogen (entactin) can form a ternary complex with type IV collagen and laminin and is thought to play a critical role in basement membrane assembly. We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans nidogen homologue nid-1 generates three isoforms that differ in numbers of rod domain endothelial growth factor repeats and are differentially expressed during development. NID-1 appears at the start of embryonic morphogenesis associated with muscle cells and subsequently accumulates on pharyngeal, intestinal, and gonad primordia. In larvae and adults NID-1 is detected in most basement membranes but accumulates most strongly around the nerve ring and developing gonad. NID-1 is concentrated under dense bodies, at the edges of muscle quadrants, and on the sublateral nerves that run under muscles. Two dele

SUBMITTER: Kang SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC15046 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature