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English Wikipedia
The cuticle
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WormBook
2007[Mar]; ä (ä): 1-15
PMID18050497
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The nematode cuticle is an extremely flexible and resilient exoskeleton that
permits locomotion via attachment to muscle, confers environmental protection and
allows growth by molting. It is synthesised five times, once in the embryo and
subsequently at the end of each larval stage prior to molting. It is a highly
structured extra-cellular matrix (ECM), composed predominantly of cross-linked
collagens, additional insoluble proteins termed cuticlins, associated
glycoproteins and lipids. The cuticle collagens are encoded by a large gene
family that are subject to strict patterns of temporal regulation. Cuticle
collagen biosynthesis involves numerous co- and post-translational modification,
processing, secretion and cross-linking steps that in turn are catalysed by
specific enzymes and chaperones. Mutations in individual collagen genes and their
biosynthetic pathway components can result in a range of defects from abnormal
morphology (dumpy and blister) to embryonic and larval death, confirming an
essential role for this structure and highlighting its potential as an ECM
experimental model system.