Reciprocal interactions between transforming growth factor beta signaling and collagens: Insights from Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Studies in genetically tractable organisms such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans have led to pioneering insights into conserved developmental regulatory mechanisms. For example, Smad signal transducers for the transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) superfamily were first identified in C. elegans and in the fruit fly Drosophila. Recent studies of TGF‐β signaling and the extracellular matrix (ECM) in C. elegans have forged unexpected links between signaling and the ECM, yielding novel insights into the reciprocal interactions that occur across tissues and spatial scales, and potentially providing new opportunities for the study of biomechanical regulation of gene expression.

TGF-β1 suppresses the T-cell response in teleost fish by initiating Smad3- and Foxp3-mediated transcriptional networks

“…Given that, the last 2 decades have witnessed great progresses regarding TGF-β1–controlled T-cell immunity in human and mouse. However, as an ancient cytokine, TGF-β has been proved to originate about one billion years ago ( 61 ), well before the inception of the T-cell immunity. When and how the TGF-β system rewires at the molecular and cellular levels to regulate T cells remain unknown.…”

Evolution and Diversity of TGF-β Pathways are Linked with Novel Developmental and Behavioral Traits

“…Within the Ppa-daf-7 signaling system, we also identified an important role for the Ppa-daf-7.6 paralogue in regulating the kin-recognition signal. A transcriptome analysis of Ppa-daf-7.6 revealed reduced expression in collagen and cuticle development genes which are also transcriptional targets of TGF-β signaling in C. elegans ( Goodman and Savage-Dunn 2022 ). Thus, we hypothesize that in Ppa-daf-7.6 , integrity of the cuticle is compromised which in turn interferes with the establishment of the kin-signal causing kin-recognition defects ( Lightfoot et al 2019 ).…”

Condensed tannins act as anthelmintics by increasing the rigidity of the nematode cuticle

“…environmental stress response 41 , osmoregulation 42 , 43 , immune response 44 or autophagy 45 . More specifically, it is known that components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can be regulated by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) 46 and in turn, the expression of the C. elegans ligand DBL-1 in ventral cord neurons is influenced by the collagen composition of the cuticle 47 . This feedback regulation may be realized by an alteration of biomechanical forces 47 , a crosstalk mechanism which has been frequently reported for human epithelial cells and tissue 48 , 49 .…”