anchor cell

The anchor cell is a cell in nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans. It is important in the development of the reproductive system, as it is required for the production of the tube of cells that allows embryos to pass from the uterus through the vulva to the outside of the worm.

During the development of C. elegans hermaphrodites, the anchor cell produces a signalling molecule (LIN-3/EGF) that induces nearby epidermal cells to develop into the vulva.{{cite journal |vauthors =Hill RJ, Sternberg PW |title=The gene lin-3 encodes an inductive signal for vulval development in C. elegans |journal=Nature |volume=358 |issue=6386 |pages=470–6 |date=August 1992 |pmid=1641037 |doi=10.1038/358470a0 |bibcode=1992Natur.358..470H }} The anchor cell also produces another signal (the Notch ligand LAG-2) that induces adjacent uterine cells to become the π cells,{{cite journal |vauthors =Newman AP, White JG, Sternberg PW |title=The Caenorhabditis elegans lin-12 gene mediates induction of ventral uterine specialization by the anchor cell |journal=Development |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=263–71 |date=February 1995 |doi=10.1242/dev.121.2.263 |pmid=7768171 |url=http://dev.biologists.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=7768171|url-access=subscription }} some of which will later connect the uterus to the vulva.{{cite journal |vauthors =Newman AP, White JG, Sternberg PW |title=Morphogenesis of the C. elegans hermaphrodite uterus |journal=Development |volume=122 |issue=11 |pages=3617–26 |date=November 1996 |doi=10.1242/dev.122.11.3617 |pmid=8951077 |url=http://dev.biologists.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8951077|url-access=subscription }} The anchor cell next removes the basement membrane that separates the uterus and vulva and invades, initiating the connection between the uterus and the vulva.{{cite journal |vauthors =Sherwood DR, Sternberg PW |title=Anchor cell invasion into the vulval epithelium in C. elegans |journal=Dev. Cell |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=21–31 |date=July 2003 |pmid=12852849 |doi= 10.1016/S1534-5807(03)00168-0|doi-access=free }} Finally the anchor cell fuses with eight of the π cells to form the uterine seam cell.