Fig. 3

Modes of action of nhr-49 and dlg-1. a nhr-49 encodes a nuclear hormone receptor that enhances the expression of acs-2 and ech-1, facilitating the flow of fatty acids into the mitochondrial matrix. nhr-49 also maintains a normal balance of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids by enhancing expression of fat-7. Deletion or depletion of nhr-49 increases fat content and reduces lifespan in C. elegans maintained on OP50. fat-7 is involved in a negative feedback mechanism that inhibits acs-2 and ech-1 expression, possibly by signaling through an as-yet unidentified fatty acid species. b dlg-1 encodes a protein that physically interacts with ajm-1 in the C. elegans epithelial junction. The DLG-1 / AJM-1 complex is targeted to apical junctions by LET-413, and may be linked to the cell membrane by claudin-like transmembrane proteins such as VAB-9 or CLC-1. See text for more details; figures have been adapted from [35, 39]