{"doi":"10.17615/hs19-8x13","title":"Expression, stability, and localization of the septin proteins, UNC-59 and UNC-61, in C. elegans.","abstract":"Cytokinesis is a fundamental cellular process by which a single cell splits into two daughter cells. A cytoskeletal structure called the contractile ring provides the force required for constriction. This ring is composed of filamentous actin (F-actin), non-muscle myosin II (NM II), and other proteins. These include the septins, a family of filamentous and GTP-binding proteins. In C. elegans, only two genes, unc-59 and unc-61, encode for septin proteins. The two proteins form heterotetramer complexes and polymerize into filaments. While it is known that both proteins are required for successful post embryonic cytokinesis in C. elegans, questions about their molecular stability and behavior remain. We used fluorescence microscopy, western blot analysis, and DNA sequencing to study septin expression and localization under conditions where one protein is absent or altered. We showed that worms carrying a null allele for unc-61 have decreased UNC-59 expression, which demonstrated that UNC-59 is destabilized in the absence of UNC-61. We also showed that worms with GFP-tagged UNC-59 have notably higher expression levels of UNC-59, yet still localize to the cleavage furrow endogenously. Ongoing fluorescence correlation spectroscopy experiments may provide details about septin protein-protein interactions under different conditions. Since the septins found in C. elegans are conserved as the core proteins of septin complexes in mammals and fungi, studying the stability of UNC-59 and UNC-61 may provide insight into septins’ roles in more complex organisms.","journal":"UNC Libraries","year":2021,"id":225617,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.939,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":828800,"name":"Larry Yang","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:54:30.292454Z","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":[]}