aph-2 encodes a novel extracellular protein required for GLP-1-mediated signaling

In animal development, numerous cell-cell interactions are mediated by the GLP-1/LIN-12/NOTCH family of transmembrane receptors. These proteins function in a signaling pathway that appears to be conserved from nematodes to humans. We show here that the aph-2 gene is a new component of the GLP-1 signaling pathway in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo, and that proteins with sequence similarity to the APH-2 protein are found in Drosophila and vertebrates. During the GLP-1-mediated cell interactions in the C. elegans embryo, APH-2 is associated with the cell surfaces of both the signaling, and the responding, blastomeres. Analysis of chimeric embryos that are composed of aph-2(+) and aph-2(−) blastomeres suggests that aph-2(+) function may be provided by either the signaling or responding blastomere.