Andy Golden: Mentorship through the Years.

The .

A Twist-Box domain of the C. elegans Twist homolog, HLH-8, plays a complex role in transcriptional regulation.

TWIST1 is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor in humans that functions in mesoderm differentiation. TWIST1 primarily regulates genes as a transcriptional repressor often through TWIST-Box domain-mediated protein-protein interactions. The TWIST-Box also can function as an activation domain requiring 3 conserved, equidistant amino acids (LXXXFXXXR).

Using Caenorhabditis elegans as a Model for Mechanistic Insights of Craniofacial Development.

Caenorhabditis elegans has served as a powerful model for understanding the molecular and cell biology of clinically important human proteins due to the conservation of genes that are associated with human disorders. It is well established that evolution has conserved critical domains of proteins and their cellular functions even though the phenotypic output for analogous mutations can be distinct among organisms. To that end, the genes that are associated with human craniosynostosis such as TWIST1, TCF12, and FGFR2 have homologs in C.

A Transparent Window into Biology: A Primer on Caenorhabditis elegans.

A little over 50 years ago, Sydney Brenner had the foresight to develop the nematode (round worm) Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model for understanding questions of developmental biology and neurobiology. Over time, research on C. elegans has expanded to explore a wealth of diverse areas in modern biology including studies of the basic functions and interactions of eukaryotic cells, host-parasite interactions, and evolution.

A Transparent window into biology: A primer on Caenorhabditis elegans.

A little over 50 years ago, Sydney Brenner had the foresight to develop the nematode (round worm) Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model for understanding questions of developmental biology and neurobiology. Over time, research on C. elegans has expanded to explore a wealth of diverse areas in modern biology including studies of the basic functions and interactions of eukaryotic cells, host-parasite interactions, and evolution.

Distinct Caenorhabditis elegans HLH-8/twist-containing dimers function in the mesoderm.

Background: The Caenorhabditis elegans basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) factor HLH-8, the single Twist ortholog in the nematode genome, plays important roles in mesoderm development, including M lineage patterning and differentiation of vulval and enteric muscles. HLH-8 cooperates with HLH-2, the bHLH E/Daughterless ortholog, to regulate downstream target genes, but it is not known whether HLH-2 is an obligate partner for all HLH-8 functions.

Results: Using hlh-2 loss-of-function alleles and RNAi, we discovered that HLH-2 is required in the vulval muscles but not in M patterning or enteric muscle development.

C. elegans twist gene expression in differentiated cell types is controlled by autoregulation through intron elements.

The temporospatial regulation of genes encoding transcription factors is important during development. The hlh-8 gene encodes the C. elegans mesodermal transcription factor CeTwist.

A "latent niche" mechanism for tumor initiation.

Stem cells, their niches, and their relationship to cancer are under intense investigation. Because tumors and metastases acquire self-renewing capacity, mechanisms for their establishment may involve cell-cell interactions similar to those between stem cells and stem cell niches. On the basis of our studies in Caenorhabditis elegans, we introduce the concept of a "latent niche" as a differentiated cell type that does not normally contact stem cells nor act as a niche but that can, under certain conditions, promote the ectopic self-renewal, proliferation, or survival of competent cells that it inappropriately contacts.

The C. elegans Twist target gene, arg-1, is regulated by distinct E box promoter elements.

Proper metazoan mesoderm development requires the function of a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, Twist. Twist-containing dimers regulate the expression of target genes by binding to E box promoter elements containing the site CANNTG. In Caenorhabditis elegans, CeTwist functions in a subset of mesodermal cells.

Books for free? How can this be? - A PubMed resource you may be overlooking.

The NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) at the National Institutes of Health collects a wide range of molecular biological data, and develops tools and databases to analyse and disseminate this information. Many life scientists are familiar with the website maintained by the NCBI (http://www.ncbi.

Identification of novel target genes of CeTwist and CeE/DA.

Twist, a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, plays an important role in mesoderm development in many organisms, including C. elegans where CeTwist is required to direct cell fate specifications of a subset of mesodermal cells. Although several target genes of CeTwist have been identified, how this protein accomplishes its function is unclear.

Characterization of a dominant negative C. elegans Twist mutant protein with implications for human Saethre-Chotzen syndrome.

Twist is a transcription factor that is required for mesodermal cell fates in all animals studied to date. Mutations of this locus in humans have been identified as the cause of the craniofacial disorder Saethre-Chotzen syndrome. The Caenorhabditis elegans Twist homolog is required for the development of a subset of the mesoderm.