{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T20:11:28Z","timestamp":1768507888014,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,30]]},"group-title":"Developmental Biology","reference-count":63,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,30]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  During epithelial morphogenesis, the apical junctions connecting cells must remodel as cells change shape and make new connections with their neighbors. In the\n                  <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                  embryo, new apical junctions form when epidermal cells migrate and seal with one another to encase the embryo in skin (\u2018ventral enclosure\u2019), and junctions remodel when epidermal cells change shape to squeeze the embryo into a worm shape (\u2018elongation\u2019). The junctional cadherin-catenin complex (CCC), which links epithelial cells to each other and to cortical actomyosin, is essential for\n                  <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                  epidermal morphogenesis. RNAi genetic enhancement screens have identified several proteins that interact with the CCC to promote epidermal morphogenesis, including the scaffolding protein Afadin (AFD-1), whose depletion alone results in only minor morphogenesis defects. Here, by creating a null mutation in\n                  <jats:italic>afd-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  , we show that\n                  <jats:italic>afd-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  provides a significant contribution to ventral enclosure and elongation on its own. Unexpectedly, we find that\n                  <jats:italic>afd-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  mutant phenotypes are strongly modified by diet, revealing a previously unappreciated maternal nutritional input to morphogenesis. We identify functional interactions between AFD-1 and the CCC by demonstrating that E-cadherin is required for the polarized distribution of AFD-1 to cell contact sites in early embryos. Finally, we show that\n                  <jats:italic>afd-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  promotes the enrichment of polarity regulator and CCC-interacting protein PAC-1\/ARHGAP21 to cell contact sites, and identify genetic interactions suggesting that\n                  <jats:italic>afd-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  and\n                  <jats:italic>pac-1<\/jats:italic>\n                  regulate epidermal morphogenesis at least in part through parallel mechanisms. Our findings reveal that\n                  <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                  AFD-1 makes a significant contribution to epidermal morphogenesis and functionally interfaces with core and associated CCC proteins.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2023.07.28.551013","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,31]],"date-time":"2023-07-31T01:35:10Z","timestamp":1690767310000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["<i>C. elegans<\/i>\n                  Afadin is required for epidermal morphogenesis and functionally interfaces with the cadherin-catenin complex and RhoGAP PAC-1\/ARHGAP21"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0858-7390","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Allison E.","family":"Hall","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Diana","family":"Klompstra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4212-7731","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeremy","family":"Nance","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1156063"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1242\/dev.115048"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-007-4186-7_12"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1534\/genetics.119.301807"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.200506124"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/dbio.2000.0113"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1051\/medsci\/20031967725"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.ctdb.2019.07.001","article-title":"Mechanisms of zebrafish epiboly: A current view","volume":"136","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr Top Dev Biol"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1042\/BJ20150410"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0034343"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1242\/dev.079863"},{"key":"2023080223351249000_2023.07.28.551013v1.12","unstructured":"Chisholm, A.D. , Hardin, J. , 2005. 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Abl and Canoe\/Afadin mediate mechanotransduction at tricellular junctions. 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