Lattmann E et al. (2020) Front Cell Dev Biol "To Divide or Invade: A Look Behind the Scenes of the Proliferation-Invasion Interplay in the Caenorhabditis elegans Anchor Cell."

Deng T, Hajnal A, Lattmann E

[Front Cell Dev Biol, 2020]

Cell invasion is defined by the capability of cells to migrate across compartment boundaries established by basement membranes (BMs). The development of complex organs involves regulated cell growth and regrouping of different cell types, which are enabled by controlled cell proliferation and cell invasion. Moreover, when a malignant tumor takes control over the body, cancer cells evolve to become invasive, allowing them to spread to distant sites and form metastases. At the core of the switch between proliferation and invasion are changes in cellular morphology driven by remodeling of the cytoskeleton. Proliferative cells utilize their actomyosin network to assemble a contractile ring during cytokinesis, while invasive cells form actin-rich protrusions, called invadopodia that allow them to breach the BMs. Studies of developmental cell invasion as well as of malignant tumors revealed that cell invasion and proliferation are two mutually exclusive states. In particular, anchor cell (AC) invasion during <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> larval development is an excellent model to study the transition from cell proliferation to cell invasion under physiological conditions. This mini-review discusses recent insights from the <i>C. elegans</i> AC invasion model into how G1 cell-cycle arrest is coordinated with the activation of the signaling networks required for BM breaching. Many regulators of the proliferation-invasion network are conserved between <i>C. elegans</i> and mammals. Therefore, the worm may provide important clues to better understand cell invasion and metastasis formation in humans.

Towlson EK et al. (2018) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci "Caenorhabditis elegans and the network control framework-FAQs."

Schafer WR, Walker DS, Towlson EK, Yan G, Vertes PE, Barabasi AL, Chew YL

[Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2018]

Control is essential to the functioning of any neural system. Indeed, under healthy conditions the brain must be able to continuously maintain a tight functional control between the system's inputs and outputs. One may therefore hypothesize that the brain's wiring is predetermined by the need to maintain control across multiple scales, maintaining the stability of key internal variables, and producing behaviour in response to environmental cues. Recent advances in network control have offered a powerful mathematical framework to explore the structure-function relationship in complex biological, social and technological networks, and are beginning to yield important and precise insights on neuronal systems. The network control paradigm promises a predictive, quantitative framework to unite the distinct datasets necessary to fully describe a nervous system, and provide mechanistic explanations for the observed structure and function relationships. Here, we provide a thorough review of the network control framework as applied to <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> (Yan <i>et al.</i> 2017 <i>Nature</i><b>550</b>, 519-523. (doi:10.1038/nature24056)), in the style of Frequently Asked Questions. We present the theoretical, computational and experimental aspects of network control, and discuss its current capabilities and limitations, together with the next likely advances and improvements. We further present the Python code to enable exploration of control principles in a manner specific to this prototypical organism.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Connectome to behaviour: modelling <i>C. elegans</i> at cellular resolution'.

Delattre M et al. (1999) Biology of the Cell "Connection of vulval and uterine epithelia in Caenorhabditis elegans."

Delattre M, Felix M-A

[Biology of the Cell, 1999]

In the Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodite, the establishment of the egg-laying system requires the connection of two epithelial tubes: the uterus of the gonad and the vulva in the underlying ectoderm. A specialized uterine cell, the anchor cell (AC), plays a central role in specifying the fates of the uterine and vulval precursor cells via the EGF-Ras-MAP kinase and the Notch/Delta signaling pathways. This central and common inducing source ensures that the two sets of cells are in register and it specifies the cell types that build the T-shaped connection between uterus and vulva. On either side, progeny of the induced cells form lumen structures and undergo stereotyped cell-to-cell fusion, thereby building epithelial tubes. Finally, the anchor cell fuses with a uterine syncytium and thus leaves only a thin cellular process between the lumen of the uterus and the vulva. In the adult, the fertilized eggs exit the lumen of the uterus through the vulva. This relatively simple developmental process serves as a model to study the biology of cells during organogenesis, such as intercellular signaling, cell polarity, invasion of basal laminae and epithelia, cell recognition and cell fusion. The anchor cell is a particularly interesting cell as it coordinates the development of its neighboring cells by using different signaling pathways at different times.