22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Determining the Function of Dishevelled Protein Domains During Development
Elise M. Walck
Dr. Timothy D. Walston, Faculty Mentor
Signal transduction pathways allow cells to communicate with their neighbors. The Wnt signaling pathway is used repeatedly throughout development. The Wnt ligand can activate multiple intracellular cascades, all united by a Dishevelled (Dsh) secondary messenger, where certain protein domains are used by distinct downstream pathways. In this study, we examined development of a Caenorhabditis elegans Dsh mutant, dsh-2(or302). To understand the contributions of individual protein domains, this mutant worm strain was rescued with a variety of dsh-2 transgenes. The resulting worms were analyzed by four-dimensional microscopy to rate the success of various morphogenetic movements, particularly dorsal intercalation. The results demonstrate that all three domains of dsh-2 are important during morphogenetic movements throughout development.
Keywords: signal transduction, C. elegans, development, morphogenesis
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 10-2
Location: VH 1408
Time: 8:30