Nanoscale patterning of collagens in C. elegans apical extracellular matrix

Jennifer R. G. Adams, Murugesan Pooranachithra, Erin M. Jyo, Sherry Li Zheng, Alexandr Goncharov, Jennifer R. Crew, James M. Kramer, Yishi Jin, Andreas M. Ernst and Andrew D. Chisholm ()
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Jennifer R. G. Adams: University of California San Diego
Murugesan Pooranachithra: University of California San Diego
Erin M. Jyo: University of California San Diego
Sherry Li Zheng: University of California San Diego
Alexandr Goncharov: University of California San Diego
Jennifer R. Crew: Northwestern University School of Medicine, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
James M. Kramer: Northwestern University School of Medicine, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Yishi Jin: University of California San Diego
Andreas M. Ernst: University of California San Diego
Andrew D. Chisholm: University of California San Diego

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Apical extracellular matrices (aECMs) are complex extracellular compartments that form important interfaces between animals and their environment. In the adult C. elegans cuticle, layers are connected by regularly spaced columnar structures known as struts. Defects in struts result in swelling of the fluid-filled medial cuticle layer (‘blistering’, Bli). Here we show that three cuticle collagens BLI-1, BLI-2, and BLI-6, play key roles in struts. BLI-1 and BLI-2 are essential for strut formation whereas activating mutations in BLI-6 disrupt strut formation. BLI-1, BLI-2, and BLI-6 precisely colocalize to arrays of puncta in the adult cuticle, corresponding to struts, initially deposited in diffuse stripes adjacent to cuticle furrows. They eventually exhibit tube-like morphology, with the basal ends of BLI-containing struts contact regularly spaced holes in the cuticle. Genetic interaction studies indicate that BLI strut patterning involves interactions with other cuticle components. Our results reveal strut formation as a tractable example of precise aECM patterning at the nanoscale.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43058-9

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