The wing of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, with its simple, two-dimensional structure, is a model organ well suited for a systems biology approach. The wing arises from an epithelial sac ...referred to as the wing imaginal disc, which undergoes a phase of massive growth and concomitant patterning during larval stages. The Decapentaplegic (Dpp) morphogen plays a central role in wing formation with its ability to co-coordinately regulate patterning and growth. Here, we asked whether the Dpp signaling activity scales, i.e. expands proportionally, with the growing wing imaginal disc. Using new methods for spatial and temporal quantification of Dpp activity and its scaling properties, we found that the Dpp response scales with the size of the growing tissue. Notably, scaling is not perfect at all positions in the field and the scaling of target gene domains is ensured specifically where they define vein positions. We also found that the target gene domains are not defined at constant concentration thresholds of the downstream Dpp activity gradients P-Mad and Brinker. Most interestingly, Pentagone, an important secreted feedback regulator of the pathway, plays a central role in scaling and acts as an expander of the Dpp gradient during disc growth.
The Hippo tumor-suppressor pathway controls tissue growth in Drosophila and mammals by regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis. The Hippo pathway includes the Fat cadherin, a transmembrane ...protein, which acts upstream of several other components that form a kinase cascade that culminates in the regulation of gene expression through the transcriptional coactivator Yorkie (Yki). Our previous work in Drosophila indicated that Merlin (Mer) and Expanded (Ex) are members of the Hippo pathway and act upstream of the Hippo kinase. In contrast to this model, it was suggested that Mer and Ex primarily regulate membrane dynamics and receptor trafficking, thereby affecting Hippo pathway activity only indirectly. Here, we examined the effects of Mer, Ex and the Hippo pathway on the size of the apical membrane and on apical-basal polarity complexes. We found that mer;ex double mutant imaginal disc cells have significantly increased levels of apical membrane determinants, such as Crb, aPKC and Patj. These phenotypes were shared with mutations in other Hippo pathway components and required Yki, indicating that Mer and Ex signal through the Hippo pathway. Interestingly, however, whereas Crb was required for the accumulation of other apical proteins and for the expansion of the apical domain observed in Hippo pathway mutants, its elimination did not significantly reverse the overgrowth phenotype of warts mutant cells. Therefore, Hippo signaling regulates cell polarity complexes in addition to and independently of its growth control function in imaginal disc cells.
The subdivision of cell populations in compartments is a key event during animal development. In Drosophila, the gene apterous (ap) divides the wing imaginal disc in dorsal vs ventral cell lineages ...and is required for wing formation. ap function as a dorsal selector gene has been extensively studied. However, the regulation of its expression during wing development is poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed ap transcriptional regulation at the endogenous locus and identified three cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) essential for wing development. Only when the three CRMs are combined, robust ap expression is obtained. In addition, we genetically and molecularly analyzed the trans-factors that regulate these CRMs. Our results propose a three-step mechanism for the cell lineage compartment expression of ap that includes initial activation, positive autoregulation and Trithorax-mediated maintenance through separable CRMs.
•Transcriptional switches in Drosophila BMP-responses.•Regulatory feedback in Drosophila BMP-signaling.•Models for explaining uniform growth and scaling in the wing disc.
Decapentaplegic (Dpp), the ...fly homolog of the secreted mammalian BMP2/4 signaling molecules, is involved in almost all aspects of fly development. Dpp has critical functions at all developmental stages, from patterning of the eggshell to the determination of adult intestinal stem cell identity. Here, we focus on recent findings regarding the transcriptional regulatory logic of the pathway, on a new feedback regulator, Pentagone, and on Dpp's roles in scaling and growth of the Drosophila wing.
Spatial organization within an organ is essential and needs to be maintained during development. This is largely implemented via compartment boundaries that serve as barriers between distinct cell ...types. Biased accumulation of junctional non-muscle Myosin II along the interface between differently fated groups of cells contributes to boundary integrity and maintains its shape via increased tension. Here, using the Drosophila wing imaginal disc, we tested whether interfacial tension driven by accumulation of Myosin is responsible for the elimination of aberrantly specified cells that would otherwise compromise compartment organization. To this end, we genetically reduced Myosin II levels in three different patterns: in both wild-type and misspecified cells, only in misspecified cells, and specifically at the interface between wild-type and aberrantly specified cells. We found that the recognition and elimination of aberrantly specified cells do not strictly rely on tensile forces driven by interfacial Myosin cables. Moreover, apical constriction of misspecified cells and their separation from wild-type neighbours occurred even when Myosin levels were greatly reduced. Thus, we conclude that the forces that drive elimination of aberrantly specified cells are largely independent of Myosin II accumulation.
Drosophila Decapentaplegic (Dpp) has served as a paradigm to study morphogen-dependent growth control. However, the role of a Dpp gradient in tissue growth remains highly controversial. Two ...fundamentally different models have been proposed: the 'temporal rule' model suggests that all cells of the wing imaginal disc divide upon a 50% increase in Dpp signalling, whereas the 'growth equalization model' suggests that Dpp is only essential for proliferation control of the central cells. Here, to discriminate between these two models, we generated and used morphotrap, a membrane-tethered anti-green fluorescent protein (GFP) nanobody, which enables immobilization of enhanced (e)GFP::Dpp on the cell surface, thereby abolishing Dpp gradient formation. We find that in the absence of Dpp spreading, wing disc patterning is lost; however, lateral cells still divide at normal rates. These data are consistent with the growth equalization model, but do not fit a global temporal rule model in the wing imaginal disc.
Hyperactivating mutations in Ras signaling are hallmarks of carcinomas. Ras signaling mediates cell fate decisions as well as proliferation during development. It is not known what dictates whether ...Ras signaling drives differentiation versus proliferation. Here we show that the Hippo pathway is critical for this decision. Loss of Hippo switches Ras activation from promoting cellular differentiation to aggressive cellular proliferation. Transcriptome analysis combined with genetic tests show that this excessive proliferation depends on the synergistic induction of Ras target genes. Using ChIP-nexus, we find that Hippo signaling keeps Ras targets in check by directly regulating the expression of two key downstream transcription factors of Ras signaling: the ETS-domain transcription factor Pointed and the repressor Capicua. Our results highlight how independent signaling pathways can impinge on each other at the level of transcription factors, thereby providing a safety mechanism to keep proliferation in check under normal developmental conditions.
•Hippo pathway determines Ras signaling output of differentiation or proliferation•Ras signaling mediates cell fate decisions as well as proliferation during development•Scallopped controls expression of Ras effectors Pointed and Capicua•Hippo signaling and Capicua repress a gene subset required for excessive proliferation
How is the cellular response to Ras activation—differentiation versus proliferation—determined? Pascual et al. show that the Hippo pathway helps decide by controlling expression of Ras effector genes, including the repressor Capicua. Capicua acts with Hippo signaling to repress and restrict the expression of a gene subset to prevent hyperproliferation.
Morphogens are crucial for regulating the patterning and the growth of organs. In the developing fly wing, graded distributions of the morphogens Decapentaplegic and Wingless are essential for tissue ...patterning, but when it comes to growth, evidence suggests that it may not be so.
The subdivision of cell populations in compartments is a key event during animal development. In Drosophila, the gene apterous (ap) divides the wing imaginal disc in dorsal vs ventral cell lineages ...and is required for wing formation. ap function as a dorsal selector gene has been extensively studied. However, the regulation of its expression during wing development is poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed ap transcriptional regulation at the endogenous locus and identified three cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) essential for wing development. Only when the three CRMs are combined, robust ap expression is obtained. In addition, we genetically and molecularly analyzed the trans-factors that regulate these CRMs. Our results propose a three-step mechanism for the cell lineage compartment expression of ap that includes initial activation, positive autoregulation and Trithorax-mediated maintenance through separable CRMs.
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