{"doi":"10.1093/genetics/162.4.1631","title":"A Cuticle Collagen Encoded by the <i>lon-3</i> Gene May Be a Target of TGF-β Signaling in Determining <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> Body Shape","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n               <jats:p>The signaling pathway initiated by the TGF-β family member DBL-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans controls body shape in a dose-dependent manner. Loss-of-function (lf) mutations in the dbl-1 gene cause a short, small body (Sma phenotype), whereas overexpression of dbl-1 causes a long body (Lon phenotype). To understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these phenotypes, we have isolated suppressors of the Sma phenotype resulting from a dbl-1(lf) mutation. Two of these suppressors are mutations in the lon-3 gene, of which four additional alleles are known. We show that lon-3 encodes a collagen that is a component of the C. elegans cuticle. Genetic and reporter-gene expression analyses suggest that lon-3 is involved in determination of body shape and is post-transcriptionally regulated by the dbl-1 pathway. These results support the possibility that TGF-β signaling controls C. elegans body shape by regulating cuticle composition.</jats:p>","journal":"Genetics","year":2002,"id":619805,"datarank":0.5676284450877392,"base_score":3.784189633918261,"endowment":3.784189633918261,"self_citation_contribution":0.5676284450877392,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.5676284450877392,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":43,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1599723,"name":"Gail A Morris","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1446254,"name":"Min Han","orcid":"0000-0002-1497-9657","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1542009,"name":"William B Wood","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":594793,"name":"Yo Suzuki","orcid":"0000-0002-2797-6922","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"A Cuticle Collagen Encoded by the <i>lon-3</i> Gene May Be a Target of TGF-β Signaling in Determining <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> Body Shape","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>\n               <jats:p>The signaling pathway initiated by the TGF-β family member DBL-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans controls body shape in a dose-dependent manner. Loss-of-function (lf) mutations in the dbl-1 gene cause a short, small body (Sma phenotype), whereas overexpression of dbl-1 causes a long body (Lon phenotype). To understand the cellular mechanisms underlying these phenotypes, we have isolated suppressors of the Sma phenotype resulting from a dbl-1(lf) mutation. Two of these suppressors are mutations in the lon-3 gene, of which four additional alleles are known. We show that lon-3 encodes a collagen that is a component of the C. elegans cuticle. Genetic and reporter-gene expression analyses suggest that lon-3 is involved in determination of body shape and is post-transcriptionally regulated by the dbl-1 pathway. These results support the possibility that TGF-β signaling controls C. elegans body shape by regulating cuticle composition.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"12524338","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":null,"authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"NICHD NIH HHS","grant_id":"HD-14958","title":null}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[],"oa_status":"closed","license":"https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://academic.oup.com/genetics/article-pdf/162/4/1631/42047333/genetics1631.pdf","host_type":"publisher"}],"fields_of_study":["Animals","Base Sequence","Caenorhabditis elegans","Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins","Collagen","DNA, Helminth","Genes, Helminth","Genes, Reporter","Green Fluorescent Proteins","Luminescent Proteins","Models, Biological","Molecular Sequence Data","Mutation","Phenotype","Protein Processing, Post-Translational","Recombinant Fusion Proteins","Signal Transduction","Suppression, Genetic","Transforming Growth Factor beta"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Base Sequence","Caenorhabditis elegans","Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins","Collagen","DNA, Helminth","Genes, Helminth","Genes, Reporter","Green Fluorescent Proteins","Luminescent Proteins","Models, Biological","Molecular Sequence Data","Mutation","Phenotype","Protein Processing, Post-Translational","Recombinant Fusion Proteins","Signal Transduction","Suppression, Genetic","Transforming Growth Factor beta"],"keywords":[],"sdg_mappings":[],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-03T08:38:21.383870Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}