{
  "abstract": "Apical extracellular matrices line exposed body surfaces to shape tissues and protect them from the environment. These apical extracellular matrices often organize into complex patterns and structures, but how such matrices assemble remains poorly understood. Caenorhabditis elegans cuticle patterns initiate within the transient precuticle, which then helps direct the placement of cuticle collagens. Precuticle patterns arise through postsecretory sorting, which must involve specific molecular interactions among them. Consistent with such a model, Alphafold3 predicts a high confidence physical interaction between 2 precuticle proteins, the lipocalin LPR-3 and the Hedgehog-related protein WRT-10, with a conserved N-terminal region of LPR-3 forming a β-strand that incorporates into the β-sandwich structure of the WRT-10 WRT domain. Genetic studies showed that WRT-10 requires this LPR-3 region to become properly patterned in the precuticle matrix. Furthermore, WRT-10 and the LPR-3 β-strand region are required to pattern a specific cuticle substructure, the lateral alae ridges, but not for other LPR-3-dependent matrix roles. These data indicate that LPR-3 and WRT-10 are functional partners and support a “landing pad” model in which physical interactions between them allow LPR-3 to recruit WRT-10 to specific apical extracellular matrix regions. Similar mechanisms may explain how other members of the C. elegans Hedgehog-related family associate with apical extracellular matrices.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Nicholas D Serra"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jason Chen",
      "orcid": "0009-0008-9367-646X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Susanna K Birnbaum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sage G Aviles"
    },
    {
      "name": "Meera V Sundaram",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2940-8750"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/47s1e64wyvnrz.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1093/genetics/iyag218",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13732703/",
  "id": "47s1e64wyvnrz",
  "issns": [
    "0016-6731",
    "1943-2631"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyag218",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SCI01140"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SCI01180"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Investigation"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7203735024",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13732703",
  "pmid": "42615082",
  "published": "2026-08-19",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/47s1e64wyvnrz.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-08T12:22:38Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13732703",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyag218"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A lipocalin and a Hedgehog-related protein are partners in the Caenorhabditis elegans precuticle apical extracellular matrix",
  "title_text": "A lipocalin and a Hedgehog-related protein are partners in the Caenorhabditis elegans precuticle apical extracellular matrix",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:22:38Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/47s1e64wyvnrz",
  "venue": "Genetics",
  "versions": []
}