egl-3;gcy-35;npr-1

Neuroendocrine convertase 2

Locus: CELE_C51E3.7

Wormbase description: The egl-3 gene encodes a homolog of a mammalian proprotein convertase that participates in peptide secretion.

Guanylyl CYclase;Soluble guanylate cyclase gcy-35

Locus: CELE_T04D3.4

Wormbase description: gcy-35 encodes a soluble guanylyl cyclase; GCY-35 activity is required for regulation of aggregation, aerotaxis, aerokinesis, gustatory plasticity, and innate immunity; GCY-35 activity is also required in the URX sensory neurons to sense increases in O2 levels and effect corresponding behavioral changes; gcy-35::gfp reporter fusions are expressed in a number of neurons, including the AQR, PQR, and URX sensory neurons, the SDQL/R and BDU interneurons, the AVM and PVM mechanosensory neurons, the cholinergic ALN and PLN neurons, the excretory cell, and in pharyngeal and body wall muscles; gcy-35 expression in the URX neuron is positively regulated by the AHR-1 transcription complex; the heme-binding domain of GCY-35 binds molecular oxygen as well as NO and CO.

NeuroPeptide Receptor family

Locus: CELE_C39E6.6

Wormbase description: npr-1 encodes a predicted G protein-coupled neuropeptide receptor that is homologous to the mammalian neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor (OMIM:162641) required for regulating anxiety, food consumption, and pain sensation; in C. elegans, NPR-1 is involved in ethological variations of social behavior such as social versus solitary feeding; in regulating social behavior, NPR-1 functions as a receptor for the FLP-18 and FLP-21 peptide ligands; NPR-1 also affects some aspect of UNC-6/netrin-mediated branching of motor neurons, as strong npr-1 mutations can suppress abnormal migration of ventral nerve cord neurons induced by overexpression of UNC-6 lacking domain C; NPR-1 is expressed predominantly in the nervous system, and particularly in the AQR, PQR, and URX neurons that are exposed to the body fluid.