Transcription regulatory networks in Caenorhabditis elegans

spe-4 encodes a transmembrane protein that is a divergent member of the presenilin family of proteins that have been implicated in early-onset Alzheimer's disease (OMIM:104300); spe-4 activity is required for proper formation and function of the fibrous body-membranous organelles that are asymmetrically localized to spermatids during spermatogeneis; spe-4 is also required for proper partitioning of tubulin as spermatids bud from the residual body; spe-4 localizes to the fibrous body-membranous organelles of developing spermatocytes and also to the spermatozoon cell body.

cul-2 encodes an E3 ubiquitin ligase; during development, CUL-2 functions as part of a Cul2-RING ubiquitin-ligase complex that regulates diverse biological processes, such as the initiation of meiotic anaphase II, cytokinesis and mitotic chromosome segregation, embryonic cell fate specification, and sex determination, via ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis; targets of CUL-2-mediated degradation include CYB-1/cyclin B and the zinc-finger protein TRA-1; CUL-2 is expressed in diverse cell types during embryonic and larval development and is also expressed in the adult germ line.