Fig. 1

Immunohistochemical investigation of the activities of papain on prepared cuticles of WT (Bristol N2) C. elegans. The worm cuticles were partially reduced with 1% DTT to increase permeability using the tube method then probed with the DPY-7 antibody. b Mutant dpy-7(qm63) C. elegans used as the negative control. c and d Disruption of the WT cuticle after 5 min of incubation in 1 µM papain. a A worm incubated in 1 µM papain inactivated with E64 prior to incubation. e A magnified image showing the regular pattern of disruption (arrowed red) and progressive disappearance of DPY-7 at 5 min of incubation with 1 µM papain, indicating the sequence of events leading to the collapse of the cuticle structure. Bar = 25 µm