The Caenorhabditis elegans autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease gene homologs lov-1 and pkd-2 act in the same pathway

Maureen M. Barr, John DeModena, Douglas Braun, Can Q. Nguyen, David H. Hall, Paul W. Sternberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

246 Scopus citations

Abstract

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) strikes I in 1000 individuals and often results in end-stage renal failure. Mutations in either PKD1 or PKD2 account for 95% of all cases [1-3]. It has recently been demonstrated that polycystin-1 and polycystin-2 (encoded by PKD1 and PKD2, respectively) assemble to form a cation channel in vitro [4]. Here we determine that the Caenorhabditis elegans PKD1 and PKD2 homologs, lov-1 [5] and pkd-2, act in the same pathway in vivo. Mutations in either lov-1 or pkd-2 result in identical male sensory behavioral defects. Also, pkd-2;lov-1 double mutants are no more severe than either of the single mutants, indicating that lov-1 and pkd-2 act together. LOV-1::GFP and PKD-2::GFP are expressed in the same male-specific sensory neurons and are concentrated in cilia and cell bodies. Cytoplasmic, nonnuclear staining in cell bodies is punctate, suggesting that one pool of PKD-2 is localized to intracellular membranes while another is found in sensory cilia. In contrast to defects in the C. elegans autosomal recessive PKD gene osm-5 [6-8], the cilia of lov-1 and pkd-2 single mutants and of lov-1;pkd-2 double mutants are normal as judged by electron microscopy, demonstrating that lov-1 and pkd-2 are not required for ultrastructural development of male-specific sensory cilia.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1341-1346
Number of pages6
JournalCurrent Biology
Volume11
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 4 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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