The nematode cuticle is a protective collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM) that is modified, cross-linked and processed by a number of key enzymes. This Ecdyzoanspecific structure is synthesized repeatedly and allows growth and development in a linked degradative and biosynthetic process known as molting. A targeted RNAi screen using a cuticle collagen marker has been employed to identify comp...

Calliphorin, Insect Cuticle, Immunofluorescence, Calliphora vicina Injections of radioactively labelled calliphorin into Illrd instar larvae of Calliphora indicate that the protein is incorporated into the integument. Immunofluorescence techniques show that the endocuticle is the Final site of deposition of calliphorin. It is concluded that calliphorin is an essen­ tial protein of the tanned cu...

Plant non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) belong to a complex multigenic family implicated in diverse physiological processes. However, their function and mode of action remain unclear probably because of functional redundancy. Among the different roles proposed for nsLTPs, it has long been suggested that they could transport cuticular precursor across the cell wall during the formati...

The Wingless (Wg)/Wnt signal transduction pathway directs a variety of cell fate decisions in developing animal embryos. Despite the identification of many Wg pathway components to date, it is still not clear how these elements work together to generate cellular identities. In the ventral epidermis of Drosophila embryos, Wg specifies cells to secrete a characteristic pattern of denticles and na...