PGP-14 establishes a polar lipid permeability barrier within the C. elegans pharyngeal cuticle
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Published:2023-11-06
Issue:11
Volume:19
Page:e1011008
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ISSN:1553-7404
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Container-title:PLOS Genetics
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language:en
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Short-container-title:PLoS Genet
Author:
Kamal Muntasir,
Tokmakjian Levon,
Knox Jessica,
Han Duhyun,
Moshiri Houtan,
Magomedova Lilia,
Nguyen Ken CQ,
Zheng Hong,
Burns Andrew R.ORCID,
Cooke Brittany,
Lacoste Jessica,
Yeo May,
Hall David H.ORCID,
Cummins Carolyn L.,
Roy Peter J.ORCID
Abstract
The cuticles of ecdysozoan animals are barriers to material loss and xenobiotic insult. Key to this barrier is lipid content, the establishment of which is poorly understood. Here, we show that the p-glycoprotein PGP-14 functions coincidently with the sphingomyelin synthase SMS-5 to establish a polar lipid barrier within the pharyngeal cuticle of the nematode C. elegans. We show that PGP-14 and SMS-5 are coincidentally expressed in the epithelium that surrounds the anterior pharyngeal cuticle where PGP-14 localizes to the apical membrane. pgp-14 and sms-5 also peak in expression at the time of new cuticle synthesis. Loss of PGP-14 and SMS-5 dramatically reduces pharyngeal cuticle staining by Nile Red, a key marker of polar lipids, and coincidently alters the nematode’s response to a wide-range of xenobiotics. We infer that PGP-14 exports polar lipids into the developing pharyngeal cuticle in an SMS-5-dependent manner to safeguard the nematode from environmental insult.
Funder
Canadian Institute of Health Research
Canada Research Chairs
National Science and Engineering Council of Canada
NIH
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subject
Cancer Research,Genetics (clinical),Genetics,Molecular Biology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics