{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,11]],"date-time":"2026-04-11T18:45:14Z","timestamp":1775933114007,"version":"3.50.1"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]]},"group-title":"Developmental Biology","reference-count":41,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]],"date-time":"2025-02-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740441600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Using a recently published scRNA-seq dataset of adult\n                  <jats:italic>C. elegans<\/jats:italic>\n                  hermaphrodites, we identified a previously unknown regulator of the germ line stem cell niche (the distal tip cell, or DTC). The gene\n                  <jats:italic>mig-21<\/jats:italic>\n                  has the highest \u201cmarker score\u201d\u2013yet no known role\u2013in the DTC. Using classical genetics techniques, RNAi knockdown, and live cell imaging, we discovered that\n                  <jats:italic>mig-21<\/jats:italic>\n                  integrates information from the Wnt and Netrin pathways to guide anteroposterior and dorsoventral DTC migration. Our study demonstrates the utility of scRNA-seq datasets in revealing testable hypotheses about genetic networks that were masked by redundancy in traditional screening methods.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2025.02.24.639896","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,25]],"date-time":"2025-02-25T17:05:45Z","timestamp":1740503145000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["MIG-21 is a novel regulator of Wnt and Netrin signaling in gonad migration identified from published scRNA-seq data and functionally validated in\n                  <i>C. elegans<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Xin","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0967-4020","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kacy Lynn","family":"Gordon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599"},{"name":"UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2024.03.049"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.molcel.2013.03.003"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aam8940"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0092-8674(00)81337-9"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.93.11.5466"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/genetics\/158.1.197"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.7","first-page":"dev180059","article-title":"Partially overlapping guidance pathways focus the activity of UNC-40\/DCC along the anteroposterior axis of polarizing neuroblasts","volume":"146","year":"2019","journal-title":"Dev Camb Engl"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/0471142727.mb1420s92"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.adg0506"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/JDB8030014"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2019.01.056"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.12","first-page":"2141","article-title":"The C. elegans LAR-like receptor tyrosine phosphatase PTP-3 and the VAB-1 Eph receptor tyrosine kinase have partly redundant functions in morphogenesis","volume":"129","year":"2002","journal-title":"Dev Camb Engl"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0896-6273(90)90444-K"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-0177(200005)218:1<2::AID-DVDY2>3.0.CO;2-W"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.15","unstructured":"Kassambara A. 2023. rstatix: Pipe-Friendly Framework for Basic Statistical Tests. https:\/\/cran.r-project.org\/web\/packages\/rstatix\/index.html (Accessed January 16, 2025)."},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/dbio.2002.0825"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/MCB.25.15.6485-6495.2005"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0092-8674(92)90357-I"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgen.1004381"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgen.1005446"},{"key":"2026041111032740000_2025.02.24.639896v1.21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li X , Singh N , Miller C , Washington I , Sosseh B , Gordon KL. 2022. 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