Figure 1. The
ptp-3 locus and protein localization. A,
ptp-3 gene structure: exons are shown as shaded boxes, and introns are shown as lines. Large introns are indicated as broken lines with the size listed below. The genomic regions used to drive isoform-specific expression are indicated. The positions of restriction enzyme sites used to make minigenes and GFP fusions are also indicated.
ptp-3A-specific exons are shown in red, whereas the
ptp-3B-specific exon is shown in yellow. The exons common to
ptp-3A and
ptp-3B are in blue. The locations of the
tm352,
ok244,
op147, and
mu256 lesions are indicated. nt, Nucleotide. B, The gene structure of the PTP-3::GFP isoforms is illustrated. Exons are indicated by boxes, and introns are indicated as lines. The placement of the GFP coding sequences is indicated by the green box. C, PTP-3 proteins: Ig-like domains are illustrated as circles, FNIII domains are illustrated as hexagons, the predicted transmembrane domain is illustrated as an oval, and the phosphatase domains are illustrated as rectangles. The asterisk indicates the FNIII repeat most homologous to the FNIII repeat containing the laminin-nidogen-binding site from mouse LAR. The effects of the mutations are shown below. The X-headed line indicates the deleted portion of the protein and the introduction of a stop codon. D-F, Whole-mount immunolocalization of PTP-3 in wild-type (D),
ptp-3(
ok244) (E), and
ptp-3(
mu256) (F) animals. Staining is observed in the nerve ring (arrow) and ventral nerve cord (arrowhead) of wild-type and
ptp-3(
ok244) animals. All
mu256 animals examined lacked reactivity in the nerve cord (F, arrowhead). Approximately 50% of
ptp-3(
mu256) animals exhibited weak PTP-3 staining in the nerve ring (F, arrow). Scale bar, 10 um.