{"doi":"10.1101/2023.03.17.533199","title":"A sex-specific switch in a single glial cell patterns the apical extracellular matrix","abstract":"ABSTRACT Apical extracellular matrix (aECM) constitutes the interface between every tissue and the outside world. It is patterned into diverse tissue-specific structures through unknown mechanisms. Here, we show that a male-specific genetic switch in a single C. elegans glial cell patterns the aECM into a ∼200 nm pore, allowing a male sensory neuron to access the environment. We find that this glial sex difference is controlled by factors shared with neurons ( mab-3, lep-2, lep-5 ) as well as previously unidentified regulators whose effects may be glia-specific ( nfya-1, bed-3, jmjd-3.1 ). The switch results in male-specific expression of a Hedgehog-related protein, GRL-18, that we discover localizes to transient nanoscale rings at sites of aECM pore formation. Blocking male-specific gene expression in glia prevents pore formation, whereas forcing male-specific expression induces an ectopic pore. Thus, a switch in gene expression in a single cell is necessary and sufficient to pattern aECM into a specific structure.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2023,"id":393067,"datarank":0.27732543843409185,"base_score":1.6094379124341003,"endowment":1.6094379124341003,"self_citation_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citation_network_contribution":0.03590975156897677,"self_endowment_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citer_contribution":0.03590975156897677,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":3,"citers_with_citation_signal":3,"citers_with_endowment":3,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9493,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1049404,"name":"Taralyn Tan","orcid":"0000-0002-4917-3047","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":374413,"name":"Irina Kolotuev","orcid":"0000-0003-1433-8048","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":443791,"name":"Maxwell G. Heiman","orcid":"0000-0002-2557-6490","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":459555,"name":"Wendy Fung","orcid":"0000-0002-2446-8535","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":90,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:19:01.355412Z","pmid":"36993293","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":[]}