Multicellular Organization Laboratory

 

Cell A

A
B
C
D
E
F

Specific characters of a variety of cell types are controlled by specific transcription factors.  However, a single transcription factor often regulates multiple cell fates.

Cell fate determination

Most cells in C. elegans are produced by asymmetric cell divisions that are regulated by the Wnt/β-catenin asymmetry pathway. Therefore, POP-1/TCF that functions downstream of the Wnt pathway appears to be involved in determination of most cell fates. How does a single transcription factor regulate a variety of cell fates?

In the case of the T cell in the tail of the animals, we showed that specific cell fates are determined by the coordination between POP-1 and a Hox protein that regulate positional identity.  Therefore, coordination with other transcription factors are important for specificity of POP-1 function.

In addition, we have recently reported that an acetylated-histone binding protein BET-1 is required for the maintenance of various cell fates.  This suggests importance of epigenetic regulation for cell fate determination.

We will further study how POP-1 regulates various cell fates, focusing on the epigenetic regulation.

POP-1

NOB-1

psa-3 gene

POP-1

POP-1

POP-1

Cell A

Cell B

A model: POP-1 binding is determined by chromatin structure

ON

OFF

Transcription ON

Cell B

POP-1

NOB-1

psa-3 gene

Transcription OFF