- Description
- hlh-1 encodes a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that is the C. elegans ortholog of the myogenic regulatory factor (MRF) subgroup of bHLH proteins; in C. elegans, HLH-1 activity is required during embryogenesis for proper bodywall muscle development and function, but not for bodywall muscle cell fate specification, per se: hlh-1 null mutants generate the normal number of bodywall muscle cells, but the arrangement of these cells is disrupted and mutant animals exhibit weak and disorganized muscle contractions; however, ectopic expression of HLH-1 in the embryo is sufficient to convert nearly all embryonic cell types to a bodywall muscle-like fate; in regulating bodywall myogenesis, genetic studies indicate that HLH-1 acts together with the UNC-120/SRF and HND-1/HAND transcription factors, both of which can also induce muscle-like fates when overexpressed in embryos; in addition, in some cell lineages, hlh-1 likely lies downstream of the PAL-1 homeodomain protein required for specification of the C and D founder cell fates; HLH-1 is expressed in nuclei and first appears in bodywall muscle precursors beginning at the ~80-cell stage of embryogenesis; expression then continues in these cells and their differentiated descendants throughout embryonic, larval, and adult stages of development.
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- JASPAR
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None Available
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