Peroxisomal retrograde signaling in C. elegans

Distinct retrograde signaling pathways have been identified for several cellular organelles. These pathways are important to maintain the function of these organelles in response to organelle-specific stress. Using Caenorhabditis elegans, we show for the first time that such a retrograde signaling also exists for peroxisomes. Analysis of the C. elegans transcriptome revealed that peroxisomal import stress caused by the knock-down of the peroxisomal matrix protein import receptor prx-5/PEX5 induces the compensatory up-regulation of genes involved in defense response and lipid metabolic processes, especially peroxisomal beta oxidation. We, therefore, propose that the peroxisomal retrograde signaling participates in the maintenance of peroxisomal function in response to peroxisomal import stress. Overall design: RNA-seq analysis of tag-208(RNAi) (control) and prx-5(RNAi) treated samples in three biological replicates.