Anchor cell

The anchor cell is a cell in nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans. It is important in the development of the reproductive system, as it is required for the production of the tube of cells that allows embryos to pass from the uterus through the vulva to the outside of the worm.

During the development of C. elegans hermaphrodites, the anchor cell produces a signalling molecule (LIN-3/EGF) that induces nearby epidermal cells to develop into the vulva.[1] The anchor cell also produces another signal (the Notch ligand LAG-2) that induces adjacent uterine cells to become the π cells,[2] some of which will later connect the uterus to the vulva.[3] The anchor cell next removes the basement membrane that separates the uterus and vulva and invades, initiating the connection between the uterus and the vulva.[4] Finally the anchor cell fuses with eight of the π cells to form the uterine seam cell.[3]

References
  1. Hill RJ, Sternberg PW (August 1992). "The gene lin-3 encodes an inductive signal for vulval development in C. elegans". Nature. 358 (6386): 470–6. doi:10.1038/358470a0. PMID 1641037.
  2. Newman AP, White JG, Sternberg PW (February 1995). "The Caenorhabditis elegans lin-12 gene mediates induction of ventral uterine specialization by the anchor cell". Development. 121 (2): 263–71. PMID 7768171.
  3. Newman AP, White JG, Sternberg PW (November 1996). "Morphogenesis of the C. elegans hermaphrodite uterus". Development. 122 (11): 3617–26. PMID 8951077.
  4. Sherwood DR, Sternberg PW (July 2003). "Anchor cell invasion into the vulval epithelium in C. elegans". Dev. Cell. 5 (1): 21–31. doi:10.1016/S1534-5807(03)00168-0. PMID 12852849.
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