Epidermal cell fusion promotes the transition from an embryonic to a larval transcriptome in C. elegans
Owen H. Funk, Daniel L. Levy, David S. Fay · 2025
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Description
Many animal tissues form by cells merging into shared units, and the worm's skin is a clean place to study what fusion does. Funk, Levy, and Fay compare gene activity in normal worms with mutants whose skin cells cannot fuse, blocking the big skin syncytium that normally holds 139 nuclei. They read the RNA changes and confirm key shifts with single-molecule imaging.
Without fusion, skin genes and pathways tied to skin function changed widely, as if the tissue stalled between embryo and larva stages. The authors argue fusion itself pushes the developmental program forward. Their results give cell merging a direct role in setting gene patterns, not just cell shape.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Owen H. Funk, Daniel L. Levy, David S. Fay |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 30 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |