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Gene Review:

unc-53 - Protein UNC-53

Caenorhabditis elegans

Hekimi, S. et al., Stringham, E. et al., Chen, E.B. et al., Peeters, P.J. et al., Merrill, R.A. et al.

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Disease relevance of unc-53

A mammalian homolog of unc-53 is regulated by all-trans retinoic acid in neuroblastoma cells and embryos [1].

High impact information on unc-53

UNC-53 is a novel protein conserved in vertebrates that contains putative SH3- and actin-binding sites. unc-53 interacts genetically with sem-5 and we demonstrated a direct interaction in vitro between UNC-53 and the SH2-SH3 adaptor protein SEM-5/GRB2 [2].
Thus, unc-53 is involved in longitudinal navigation and might act by linking extracellular guidance cues to the intracellular cytoskeleton [2].
Examination of five unc-53 alleles for penetrance and expressivity of these defects revealed a spatial restriction in the requirement for unc-53 [3].
Taken together, these observations suggest that the differentiated features of the PLMs, including process length, branch position, intracellular branch morphology, and surrounding extracellular matrix, are locally specified by cell-extrinsic cues, some of which require unc-53 [3].
Here we show that mutations in unc-53, unc-71, and unc-73 disrupt sex myoblast positioning in the absence of the gonad, while they do not affect positioning in the presence of the gonad [4].

Biological context of unc-53

Caenorhabditis elegans unc-53 plays an important role in cell migration and the outgrowth of cellular processes such as axons [5].

Anatomical context of unc-53

Mutations in let-60 ras and let-341 also confer sex myoblast migration defects in an unc-53 background, implicating these genes in gonad-dependent positioning as well [4].

References

A mammalian homolog of unc-53 is regulated by all-trans retinoic acid in neuroblastoma cells and embryos. Merrill, R.A., Plum, L.A., Kaiser, M.E., Clagett-Dame, M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (2002) [Pubmed]
unc-53 controls longitudinal migration in C. elegans. Stringham, E., Pujol, N., Vandekerckhove, J., Bogaert, T. Development (2002) [Pubmed]
Axonal guidance defects in a Caenorhabditis elegans mutant reveal cell-extrinsic determinants of neuronal morphology. Hekimi, S., Kershaw, D. J. Neurosci. (1993) [Pubmed]
Genetic enhancers of sem-5 define components of the gonad-independent guidance mechanism controlling sex myoblast migration in Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites. Chen, E.B., Branda, C.S., Stern, M.J. Dev. Biol. (1997) [Pubmed]
Sensory deficits in mice hypomorphic for a mammalian homologue of unc-53. Peeters, P.J., Baker, A., Goris, I., Daneels, G., Verhasselt, P., Luyten, W.H., Geysen, J.J., Kass, S.U., Moechars, D.W. Brain Res. Dev. Brain Res. (2004) [Pubmed]

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