echinoidmutants exhibit neurogenic phenotypes and show synergistic interactions with the Notch signaling pathway (original) (raw)
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Developmental Biology, 2003
The Notch signaling pathway is critical in cell fate specification throughout development. In the developing wing disc, single sensory organ precursors (SOPs) are selected from proneural clusters via a process of lateral inhibition mediated by the Notch signaling pathway. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway has also been implicated in SOP formation. Here, we describe the Drosophila melanogaster gene friend of echinoid (fred), a paralogue of echinoid (ed), a gene recently identified as a negative regulator of the EGFR pathway. fred function was examined in transgenic flies by using inducible RNA interference (RNAi). Suppression of fred in developing wing discs results in specification of ectopic SOPs, additional microchaeta, and cell death. In eye-antennal discs, fred suppression causes a rough eye phenotype. These phenotypes are suppressed by overexpression of Notch, Suppressor of Hairless [Su(H)], and Enhancer of split m7. In contrast, overexpression of Hairless, a negative regulator of the Notch pathway, and decreased Su(H) activity enhance these phenotypes. Thus, fred acts in close concert with the Notch signaling pathway. Dosage-sensitive genetic interaction also suggests a close relationship between fred and ed.
Echinoid synergizes with the Notch signaling pathway in Drosophila mesothorax bristle patterning
in proneural clusters. Moreover, combinations of moderate loss-of-function conditions for ed and for different components of the N pathway show clear synergistic interactions manifested as strong neurogenic bristle phenotypes. We conclude that Ed is not essential for, but it facilitates, N signaling. It is known that the N and Egfr pathways act antagonistically in bristle development. Consistently, we find that Ed also antagonizes the bristlepromoting activity of the Egfr pathway, either by the enhancement of N signalling or, similar to the eye, by a more direct action on the Egfr pathway.
The Journal of cell biology, 1991
The Notch gene in Drosophila encodes a transmembrane protein with homology to EGF that appears to mediate cell-cell interactions necessary for proper epidermal vs. neural fate decisions. In this study, we examine Notch expression in detail throughout embryonic and imaginal development using confocal laser-scanning microscopy and specific mAb probes. We find that Notch is expressed in a tissue-specific manner as early as the cellular blastoderm stage, when cells of the presumptive mesoderm clearly express less Notch than adjacent ectodermal precursors. Notch is abundantly expressed during the initial determination of neuronal lineages, such as the embryonic neuroblasts and the precursors of sensory neurons in the imaginal disc epithelia, but expression quickly decreases during subsequent differentiation. These changing patterns of Notch expression do not correlate well with cell movements, and thus do not appear to support the notion that the major function of Notch is to maintain ep...
The Notch locus and the genetic circuitry involved in early Drosophila neurogenesis
Genes & Development, 1990
The genetic and molecular analysis of the Notch locus, which codes for a transmembrane protein sharing homology with the mammalian epidermal growth factor, suggests that the Notch protein is involved in a cell interaction mechanism essential for the differentiation of the embryonic nervous system of Drosophila. Taking advantage of the negative complementation between two Notch mutations that affect the extracellular domain of the protein, we have tried to dissect the genetic circuitry in which Notch is integrated by searching for genes whose products may interact with the Notch protein. This genetic screen has led to the identification of a surprisingly restricted set of interacting loci, including Delta and mastermind. Like Notch, both of these genes belong to a group of loci, the neurogenic loci, which have been previously identified by virtue of their similar mutant phenotype affecting early neurogenesis. We extend these studies by systematically exploring interactions between sp...
Structure and distribution of the Notch protein in developing Drosophila
Genes & Development, 1989
Antibodies to Notch show that it is a stable, high-molecular-weight transmembrane glycoprotein, with epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like elements exposed on the cell surface. The protein is phosphorylated variably on serines of the cytoplasmic domain. Individual Notch polypeptide chains appear to be associated with one another by disulfide bonds, suggesting that homotypic interaction of these proteins is required for function. Immunocytochemistry has revealed striking features of Notch expression that might clarify its function: Cells of the ventral neurogenic ectoderm become conspicuously labeled with the protein prior to embryonic neurogenesis, and Notch appears to be associated with cells destined for both neural and epidermal lineages. High levels of Notch become restricted to neuroblasts as they delaminate from the embryonic ectoderm and are apposed to mesoderm. Mesodermal cells express Notch also, suggesting a possible involvement in neurogenesis, or an unknown role in mesoderm differentiation. In larvae and pupae, a correlation of expression and neuroblast mitotic activity is seen for many cells. Notch produced by a dividing neuroblast may persist on derivative cells, including terminally differentiated neurons and nerve processes. In the larval eye imaginal disk, strong Notch expression appears in the morphogenetic furrow, uniformly on cell surfaces as they cluster to form ommatidia. Expression persists on ommatidia after release from the furrow. These patterns suggest a role for Notch in position-dependent development in both initiation and maintenance of cell-surface interactions. In the eye and embryonic ectoderm, uniform expression on cells interacting to produce different developmental lineages from a single primordium suggests that Notch alone may not be sufficient to elaborate cell fates.
Developmental Biology, 2011
The first step in the development of the Drosophila optic medullar primordia is the expansion of symmetrically dividing neuroepithelial cells (NEs); this step is then followed by the appearance of asymmetrically dividing neuroblasts (NBs). However, the mechanisms responsible for the change from NEs to NBs remain unclear. Here, we performed detailed analyses demonstrating that individual NEs are converted into NBs. We also showed that this transition occurs during an elongated G1 phase. During this G1 phase, the morphological features and gene expressions of each columnar NE changed dynamically. Once the NE-to-NB transition was completed, the former NE changed its cell-cycling behavior, commencing asymmetric division. We also found that Notch signaling pathway was activated just before the transition and was rapidly downregulated. Furthermore, the clonal loss of the Notch wild copy in the NE region near the medial edge caused the ectopic accumulation of Delta, leading to the precocious onset of transition. Taken together, these findings indicate that the activation of Notch signaling during a finite window coordinates the proper timing of the NE-to-NB transition.
Notch signaling and the generation of cell diversity in Drosophila neuroblast lineages
Advances in experimental medicine and biology, 2012
Notch is a membrane bound transcription factor and it plays fundamental roles in many cell-cell interaction events usually involving directly neighboring cells relating an extrinsic signal of a sending cell to the nucleus of the receiving cell to modulate gene expression patterns in this cell. Notch regulates cell fate specification, cell proliferation as well as cell death in the contexts of many organs and cell types. Although the mechanisms of signal transduction from the cell surface to the nucleus are relatively simple, it is not fully understood how such a straightforward pathway can result in tremendously complex outcomes at the cellular level. This chapter discusses some of the known roles of Notch during central nervous system development in Drosophila. In the CNS, Notch is a major player in creating cellular diversity on the level of binary cell fates by possibly activating differential gene expression in sibling cells arising through asymmetric cell division. This chapter...