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A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2003
Papers In Press, published online ahead of print November 4, 2002
J. Lipid Res., doi:10.1194/jlr.M200323-JLR200
Submitted on August 13, 2002
Revised on October 15, 2002
Accepted on November 4, 2002
Sterol effects and sites of sterol accumulation in Caenorhabditis elegans: developmental requirement for 4 -methyl sterols
Mark Merris, William G. Wadsworth, Uttam Khamrai, Robert Bittman, David J. Chitwood, and John Lenard
Physiology & Biophysics, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854
Corresponding Author: lenard{at}umdnj.edu
Caenorhabditis elegans requires dietary sterol, usually supplied as cholesterol. Sterols are enzymatically modified, however, and many different sterols can meet the requirement. Sterol deprivation decreased brood size and adult growth in the first generation, and completely, but reversibly, arrested growth during larval development in the second. After one generation of sterol deprivation addition of cholesterol at concentrations as low as 10 ng/ml allowed delayed laying of a few eggs, but 100 ng/ml was required for stimulation of growth. C. elegans is known to synthesize two unusual 4 -methyl sterols (4MSs) in substantial amounts from supplied sterols. We find that 4MSs supported only limited growth as the sole sterol. However, addition of only 10 ng of cholesterol to 1000 ng of 4MS could restore full growth and egg-laying. This synergism suggests that both 4MS and unmethylated sterols, acting through different pathways, are required for development. Sterols were found by filipin staining to accumulate in only a few specific cells: the excretory gland cell, two amphid socket cells, two phasmid socket cells and, in the male, spicule socket cells. Sterols were also present in the pharynx and in the intestine of feeding animals, in a proximal-to-distal gradient. This uneven sterol distribution, the low concentration requirements, and the effects of 4MSs argues that sterols are unlikely to be used for bulk structural modification of cell membranes, but are more likely required as hormone precursors and/or developmental effectors.

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Copyright © 2002 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
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