AI Article Synopsis
- The cuticles of ecdysozoan animals, like nematodes, serve as barriers to protect against material loss and harmful substances, with lipid content being crucial for this function.
- Research on the nematode C. elegans reveals that the proteins PGP-14 and SMS-5 work together to create a polar lipid barrier in the pharyngeal cuticle, with both being expressed at the same time during cuticle synthesis.
- When PGP-14 and SMS-5 are absent, there is a significant reduction in lipid content and a change in the nematode's ability to handle various toxic substances, suggesting that these proteins play a vital role in lipid export to strengthen the cuticle's protective properties.
Article 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.
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Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10653525 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011008 | DOI Listing |
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