Psychiatry related information on pha-2

• The pha-2 mutant was isolated in 1993 by Leon Avery in a screen for worms with visible defects in pharyngeal feeding behavior [1].

High impact information on pha-2

• pha-2 is the Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of the vertebrate homeobox gene Hex [2].
• Here, we performed a detailed characterization of the pha-2 phenotype using cell-type-specific reporters, physical manipulation of the nuclei in pharyngeal muscle cells using "optical tweezers", electron microscopy, staining of the actin cytoskeleton as well as phenotypic rescue and ectopic expression experiments [2].
• Misexpression of acetylcholinesterases in the C. elegans pha-2 mutant accompanies ultrastructural defects in pharyngeal muscle cells [2].
• Embryonic expression of pha-2 is mostly pharyngeal and the only described mutant allele of pha-2 results in a severe pharyngeal defect in which certain muscle cells (pm5 cells) and neurons are grossly deformed [2].
• We also present evidence that pha-2 regulates itself positively in pm5 cells, that it is a downstream target of the forkhead gene pha-4, and that it may also act in the isthmus as an inhibitor of the ceh-22 gene, an Nkx2.5 homolog [1].

Anatomical context of pha-2

• In pha-2 mutant worms, the pharyngeal isthmus is abnormally thick and short and, in contrast to wild-type worms, harbors several cell nuclei [1].

References