Bidirectional transfer of a small membrane-impermeable molecule between the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine and germline.

The extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) is a positive regulator of cell proliferation often upregulated in cancer. Its Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog MPK-1 stimulates germline stem cell (GSC) proliferation nonautonomously from the intestine or somatic gonad. How MPK-1 can perform this task from either of these two tissues however remains unclear.

Non-autonomous regulation of germline stem cell proliferation by somatic MPK-1/MAPK activity in C. elegans.

Extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) is a major positive regulator of cell proliferation, which is often upregulated in cancer. However, few studies have addressed ERK/MAPK regulation of proliferation within a complete organism. The Caenorhabditis elegans ERK/MAPK ortholog MPK-1 is best known for its control of somatic organogenesis and germline differentiation, but it also stimulates germline stem cell proliferation.