Article
Biology
Julien Marcetteau, Tamas Matusek, Frederic Luton, Pascal P. Therond
Summary: Wnt signalling is a core pathway in developmental processes, with Arf6 playing a significant role in regulating upstream steps of the pathway. Absence of Arf6 activity in fruit flies results in loss of wing margin bristles and Senseless expression, indicating its crucial role in high level Wingless signalling. Arf6 is required downstream of Armadillo/beta-catenin stabilisation in Wingless signal transduction, modulating the activity of a downstream nuclear regulator to control induction of high level Wingless signalling.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Mar Garcia-Ferres, Carlos Sanchez-Higueras, Jose Manuel Espinosa-Vazquez, James C-G Hombria
Summary: The corpora allata and the prothoracic glands control moulting and metamorphosis in insects. These endocrine glands are regulated by the same upstream genes, supporting the hypothesis that they originated from a repeated organ.
Article
Oncology
Caique Almeida Machado Costa, Xian-Feng Wang, Calder Ellsworth, Wu-Min Deng
Summary: Polyploidy, a cell status with more than two sets of genomic DNA, is a conserved strategy across species that contributes to cell size, biosynthetic production, and developmental processes in Drosophila; however, polyploid cells are also prevalent in Drosophila tumors, playing significant roles in tumor growth and invasiveness.
SEMINARS IN CANCER BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Xiaowen Ji, Jiajia Gao, Tian Wei, Li Jin, Guiran Xiao
Summary: This study reveals that the zinc transporter FOI is essential for fat body endoreplication and larval growth in Drosophila. Knockdown of FOI results in failure of fat body cells to reach normal size, decreased fat body size, and pupal lethality. The intracellular zinc depletion caused by FOI knockdown leads to oxidative stress, activation of the ROS-JNK signaling pathway, and inhibition of Myc expression, which is required for tissue endoreplication and larval growth in Drosophila.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Xiaoxi Wang, Kimberly S. LaFever, Indrayani Waghmare, Andrea Page-McCaw
Summary: Recent studies have investigated the long-range signaling of Wnt proteins and their role as morphogens. Research on Drosophila wing disc and ovary suggests that Wg protein spreads from source cells to neighboring cells, promoting stem cell proliferation.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rui Wang, Hao Xie, Lin Yang, Ping Wang, Meng-Meng Chen, Hong-Yan Wu, Yan-Lin Liao, Ming-Ying Wang, Qiang Wang, Xiao-Xia Gong, Qian Cheng, Lin Cheng, Fei-Yan Xie, Cai-Li Bi, Ming Fang
Summary: The study shows that nkd plays an important role in wing pattern formation in fruit flies, with both gain and loss of nkd resulting in disrupted Wg target gene expression and abnormal adult wing morphologies. A thirty amino acid fragment in Nkd is critical for canonical Wg signaling.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Maria Paula Zappia, Yong-Jae Kwon, Anton Westacott, Isabel Liseth, Hyun Min Lee, Abul B. M. M. K. Islam, Jiyeon Kim, Maxim V. Frolov
Summary: The transcription factor E2F is responsible for controlling the expression of cell cycle genes by binding to their promoters. However, its significance in the regulation of metabolic genes is not well understood. In this study, the researchers introduced mutations in the E2F sites of five metabolic genes in fruit flies and found varying effects on E2F recruitment and gene expression, with the glycolytic gene Pgk being the most affected. Loss of E2F regulation on the Pgk gene led to decreased glycolytic flux, ATP content, and abnormal mitochondrial morphology. The study highlights the importance of E2F regulation on metabolic genes and its impact on overall development.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Sara Thornby Bak, Eva Bang Harvald, Ditte Gry Ellman, Sabrina Bech Mathiesen, Ting Chen, Shu Fang, Kristian Skriver Andersen, Christina Duhring Fenger, Mark Burton, Mads Thomassen, Ditte Caroline Andersen
Summary: While fetal heart CMs divide, postnatal CMs become binucleated or polyploid due to the lack of karyokinesis and/or cytokinesis, hindering heart regeneration. This study uses scRNA-seq to identify TFs involved in CM proliferation and terminal differentiation. By combining FACS and scRNA-seq, the researchers generate high-resolution transcriptomic maps of diploid and tetraploid CMs, revealing ZEB1 as a key regulator of CM proliferation and endoreplication.
BASIC RESEARCH IN CARDIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Swann Floc'hlay, Ramya Balaji, Dimitrije Stankovic, Valerie M. Christiaens, Carmen Bravo Gonzalez-Blas, Seppe De Winter, Gert J. Hulselmans, Maxime De Waegeneer, Xiaojiang Quan, Duygu Koldere, Mardelle Atkins, Georg Halder, Mirka Uhlirova, Anne-Kathrin Classen, Stein Aerts
Summary: This study provides important insights into the wound response and its relationship to malignancy. By using a systems biology approach, the authors demonstrate the dual use of regulatory sequences in achieving context dependence for wound repair and tumor growth. This research is valuable for researchers in the fields of gene regulation, developmental biology, and cancer research.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Naotaka Ochi, Mai P. Nakamura, Rina Nagata, Naoki P. Wakasa, Ryosuke Nakano, Tatsushi P. Igaki
Summary: Cell competition is a context-dependent process where unfit cells are eliminated when confronted with fitter cells. Through genetic studies in Drosophila, it was found that ER stress leads to cell competition via upregulation of the bZIP transcription factor Xrp1, leading to reduced protein synthesis and cell death. These findings suggest that Xrp1-mediated phosphorylation of eIF2 alpha could be a common mechanism of cell competition triggered by different stimuli.
Article
Cell Biology
Woo Seuk Koh, Collin Knudsen, Tomomi Izumikawa, Eriko Nakato, Kristin Grandt, Akiko Kinoshita-Toyoda, Hidenao Toyoda, Hiroshi Nakato
Summary: This study identified the CSPG Wdp as a regulator of HS-dependent pathways and revealed a close functional relationship between HS and CS.
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Marisa M. Merino, Carole Seum, Marine Dubois, Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan
Summary: During organogenesis, morphogen gradients play a crucial role in patterning morphological structures, with gradient scaling ensuring proportional patterns in organs of different sizes. This study reveals a mechanism where cell death trims developing tissue to match the size of the gradient when it is smaller than the organ. The scaling process is regulated by molecular associations involving Dally, Pentagone, and Flower, offering potential insights into the molecular toolbox exploited by tumors.
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Chunzhu Song, Kendal Broadie
Summary: Drosophila models of neurological disease, particularly the FXS model, have greatly contributed to our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and neurological phenotypes of fragile X syndrome, and have provided potential therapeutic targets.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Nanami Akai, Shizue Ohsawa, Yukari Sando, Tatsushi Igaki
Summary: The study found that in Drosophila Minute mutants, both cell death and compensatory cell proliferation are significantly increased during development, highlighting the essential role of cell-turnover in robust tissue growth.
Article
Cell Biology
Xian-Feng Wang, Sheng-An Yang, Shangyu Gong, Chih-Hsuan Chang, Juan Martin Portilla, Deeptiman Chatterjee, Jerome Irianto, Hongcun Bao, Yi-Chun Huang, Wu-Min Deng
Summary: This study shows that upregulation of the Notch signaling pathway induces polyploid mitosis in tumor cells in a Drosophila solid-tumor model, and DNA-damage response genes are upregulated in these tumors and required for ploidy-reduction division. These findings suggest that polyploidy and associated cell-cycle variants play a critical role in increasing tumor-cell heterogeneity and genome instability during cancer progression.
DEVELOPMENTAL CELL
(2021)
