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Figure 3 | Journal of Molecular Signaling

Figure 3

From: Neuronal aging: learning from C. elegans

Figure 3

Schematic model of genetic and signaling networks that regulate maintenance and aging in C. elegans touch neurons. The touch neurons and their processes are ensheathed by the cytoplasmic extension of the neighboring hypodermal cell. Extracellular matrix containing the EGF- and Kunitz-domain proteins MEC-1 and MEC-9, and also atypical collagen MEC-5, was deposited between the touch neurons and the hypodermal cell. It is generally speculated that MEC-1, MEC-5 and MEC-9 tether the mechanosensory transduction channels, composed of MEC-2, MEC-4, MEC-6 and MEC-10, on the touch cell membrane and mechanically gate these channels. Although Tank et al. [31] had shown that components in the MAPK pathways, including JNK-1, JKK-1 and MEK-1, maintain touch neuron structures by inhibiting aberrant branching during aging, signals that activate these genes as well as their effectors or targets remain elusive. Genes that encode components of the microtubule cytoskeleton (MEC-12/α-tubulin and PTL-1/Tau) or the integral nuclear envelope protein (LMN-1/lamin) are also important for maintaining postmitotic neurons in C. elegans. For simplicity, this schematic diagram was generated in the form of the neuronal soma, but similar models could also apply to the process of the neuron.

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