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Current Opinion in Insect Science Apr 2022Germ plasm is a substance capable of driving naive cells toward the germ cell fate. Germ plasm has had multiple independent origins, and takes on diverse forms and... (Review)
Review
Germ plasm is a substance capable of driving naive cells toward the germ cell fate. Germ plasm has had multiple independent origins, and takes on diverse forms and functions throughout animals, including in insects. We describe here recent advances in the understanding of the evolution of germ plasm in insects. A major theme that has emerged is the complex and convoluted interactions of germ plasm with symbiotic bacteria within the germline, including at the very origin of oskar, the gene required for assembling germ plasm in insects. Major advancements have also been made in understanding the basic molecular arrangement of germ plasm in insects. These advances demonstrate that further analysis of insect germ plasm will be fruitful in illuminating diverse aspects of evolutionary and developmental biology.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila Proteins; Germ Cells; Insecta
PubMed: 35123121
DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100883 -
Current Topics in Developmental Biology 2023Actin networks are central to shaping and moving cells during animal development. Various spatial cues activate conserved signal transduction pathways to polarize actin... (Review)
Review
Actin networks are central to shaping and moving cells during animal development. Various spatial cues activate conserved signal transduction pathways to polarize actin network assembly at sub-cellular locations and to elicit specific physical changes. Actomyosin networks contract and Arp2/3 networks expand, and to affect whole cells and tissues they do so within higher-order systems. At the scale of tissues, actomyosin networks of epithelial cells can be coupled via adherens junctions to form supracellular networks. Arp2/3 networks typically integrate with distinct actin assemblies, forming expansive composites which act in conjunction with contractile actomyosin networks for whole-cell effects. This review explores these concepts using examples from Drosophila development. First, we discuss the polarized assembly of supracellular actomyosin cables which constrict and reshape epithelial tissues during embryonic wound healing, germ band extension, and mesoderm invagination, but which also form physical borders between tissue compartments at parasegment boundaries and during dorsal closure. Second, we review how locally induced Arp2/3 networks act in opposition to actomyosin structures during myoblast cell-cell fusion and cortical compartmentalization of the syncytial embryo, and how Arp2/3 and actomyosin networks also cooperate for the single cell migration of hemocytes and the collective migration of border cells. Overall, these examples show how the polarized deployment and higher-order interactions of actin networks organize developmental cell biology.
Topics: Animals; Actins; Drosophila; Actomyosin; Drosophila Proteins; Muscle Contraction; Drosophila melanogaster
PubMed: 37100525
DOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2023.02.005 -
Cell Chemical Biology Jul 2016Cell-specific proteomics in multicellular systems and whole animals is a promising approach to understand the differentiated functions of cells and tissues. Here, we...
Cell-specific proteomics in multicellular systems and whole animals is a promising approach to understand the differentiated functions of cells and tissues. Here, we extend our stochastic orthogonal recoding of translation (SORT) approach for the co-translational tagging of proteomes with a cyclopropene-containing amino acid in response to diverse codons in genetically targeted cells, and create a tetrazine-biotin probe containing a cleavable linker that offers a way to enrich and identify tagged proteins. We demonstrate that SORT with enrichment, SORT-E, efficiently recovers and enriches SORT tagged proteins and enables specific identification of enriched proteins via mass spectrometry, including low-abundance proteins. We show that tagging at distinct codons enriches overlapping, but distinct sets of proteins, suggesting that tagging at more than one codon enhances proteome coverage. Using SORT-E, we accomplish cell-specific proteomics in the fly. These results suggest that SORT-E will enable the definition of cell-specific proteomes in animals during development, disease progression, and learning and memory.
Topics: Amino Acids; Animals; Azo Compounds; Biotin; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Genetic Code; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Probes; Molecular Structure; Protein Transport; Proteomics; Tetrazoles
PubMed: 27447048
DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2016.05.018 -
Neural Development Oct 2022The paths axons travel to reach their targets and the subsequent synaptic connections they form are highly stereotyped. How cell surface proteins (CSPs) mediate these...
The paths axons travel to reach their targets and the subsequent synaptic connections they form are highly stereotyped. How cell surface proteins (CSPs) mediate these processes is not completely understood. The Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is an ideal system to study how pathfinding and target specificity are accomplished, as the axon trajectories and innervation patterns are known and easily visualized. Dpr10 is a CSP required for synaptic partner choice in the neuromuscular and visual circuits and for axon pathfinding in olfactory neuron organization. In this study, we show that Dpr10 is also required for motor axon pathfinding. To uncover how Dpr10 mediates this process, we used immunoprecipitation followed by mass spectrometry to identify Dpr10 associated proteins. One of these, Nocte, is an unstructured, intracellular protein implicated in circadian rhythm entrainment. We mapped nocte expression in larvae and found it widely expressed in neurons, muscles, and glia. Cell-specific knockdown suggests nocte is required presynaptically to mediate motor axon pathfinding. Additionally, we found that nocte and dpr10 genetically interact to control NMJ assembly, suggesting that they function in the same molecular pathway. Overall, these data reveal novel roles for Dpr10 and its newly identified interactor, Nocte, in motor axon pathfinding and provide insight into how CSPs regulate circuit assembly.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila; Axon Guidance; Motor Neurons; Axons; Drosophila Proteins; Membrane Proteins
PubMed: 36271407
DOI: 10.1186/s13064-022-00165-5 -
Current Biology : CB Dec 2016The first cell of an animal (zygote) requires centrosomes that are assembled from paternally inherited centrioles and maternally inherited pericentriolar material (PCM)...
The first cell of an animal (zygote) requires centrosomes that are assembled from paternally inherited centrioles and maternally inherited pericentriolar material (PCM) [1]. In some animals, sperm centrioles with typical ultrastructure are the origin of the first centrosomes in the zygote [2-4]. In other animals, however, sperm centrioles lose their proteins and are thought to be degenerated and non-functional during spermiogenesis [5, 6]. Here, we show that the two sperm centrioles (the giant centriole [GC] and the proximal centriole-like structure [PCL]) in Drosophila melanogaster are remodeled during spermiogenesis through protein enrichment and ultrastructure modification in parallel to previously described centrosomal reduction [7]. We found that the ultrastructure of the matured sperm (spermatozoa) centrioles is modified dramatically and that the PCL does not resemble a typical centriole. We also describe a new phenomenon of Poc1 enrichment of the atypical centrioles in the spermatozoa. Using various mutants, protein expression during spermiogenesis, and RNAi knockdown of paternal Poc1, we found that paternal Poc1 enrichment is essential for the formation of centrioles during spermiogenesis and for the formation of centrosomes after fertilization in the zygote. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that the sperm centrioles are remodeled both in their protein composition and in ultrastructure, yet they are functional and are essential for normal embryogenesis in Drosophila.
Topics: Animals; Centrioles; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Gene Expression Regulation; Male; Spermatogenesis; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 28094036
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.006 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2019The homeodomain-interacting protein kinase (Hipk) is the fly representative of the well-conserved group of HIPKs in vertebrates. It was initially found through its...
The homeodomain-interacting protein kinase (Hipk) is the fly representative of the well-conserved group of HIPKs in vertebrates. It was initially found through its characteristic interactions with homeodomain proteins. Hipk is involved in a variety of important developmental processes, such as the development of the eye or the nervous system. In the present study, we set Hipk and the homeodomain proteins Homeobrain (Hbn), Empty spiracles (Ems), and Muscle segment homeobox (Msh) in an enzyme-substrate relationship. These homeoproteins are transcription factors that function during neurogenesis and are, at least in part, conserved in vertebrates. We reveal a physical interaction between Hipk and the three homeodomain proteins in vivo using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). In the course of in vitro phosphorylation analysis and subsequent mutational analysis we mapped several Hipk phosphorylation sites of Hbn, Ems, and Msh. The phosphorylation of Hbn, Ems, and Msh may provide further insight into the function of Hipk during development of the nervous system.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Homeodomain Proteins; Phosphorylation; Protein Binding; Protein Kinases
PubMed: 31010135
DOI: 10.3390/ijms20081931 -
Epigenetics Nov 2020Ten-eleven Translocation (TET) proteins have emerged as a family of epigenetic regulators that are important during development and have been implicated in various types... (Review)
Review
Ten-eleven Translocation (TET) proteins have emerged as a family of epigenetic regulators that are important during development and have been implicated in various types of cancers. TET is a highly conserved protein that has orthologues in almost all multicellular organisms. Here, we review recent literature on the novel substrate specificity of this family of DNA 5-methylcytosine demethylases on DNA 6-methyladenine and RNA 5-methylcytosine that were first identified in the invertebrate model . We focus on the biological role of these novel epigenetic marks in the fruit fly and mammals and highlight TET proteins' critical function during development specifically in brain development.
Topics: Animals; DNA Methylation; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Epigenesis, Genetic; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Mixed Function Oxygenases
PubMed: 32419604
DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2020.1767323 -
Cells Feb 2024Cell death plays an essential function in organismal development, wellbeing, and ageing. Many types of cell deaths have been described in the past 30 years. Among these,... (Review)
Review
Cell death plays an essential function in organismal development, wellbeing, and ageing. Many types of cell deaths have been described in the past 30 years. Among these, apoptosis remains the most conserved type of cell death in metazoans and the most common mechanism for deleting unwanted cells. Other types of cell deaths that often play roles in specific contexts or upon pathological insults can be classed under variant forms of cell death and programmed necrosis. Studies in have contributed significantly to the understanding and regulation of apoptosis pathways. In addition to this, has also served as an essential model to study the genetic basis of autophagy-dependent cell death (ADCD) and other relatively rare types of context-dependent cell deaths. Here, we summarise what is known about apoptosis, ADCD, and other context-specific variant cell death pathways in , with a focus on developmental cell death.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila; Cell Death; Apoptosis; Drosophila Proteins; Autophagic Cell Death
PubMed: 38391960
DOI: 10.3390/cells13040347 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2018RhoGAP proteins control the precise regulation of the ubiquitous small RhoGTPases. The Drosophila Crossveinless-c (Cv-c) RhoGAP is homologous to the human tumour...
RhoGAP proteins control the precise regulation of the ubiquitous small RhoGTPases. The Drosophila Crossveinless-c (Cv-c) RhoGAP is homologous to the human tumour suppressor proteins Deleted in Liver Cancer 1-3 (DLC1-3) sharing an identical arrangement of SAM, GAP and START protein domains. Here we analyse in Drosophila the requirement of each Cv-c domain to its function and cellular localization. We show that the basolateral membrane association of Cv-c is key for its epithelial function and find that the GAP domain targeted to the membrane can perform its RhoGAP activity independently of the rest of the protein, implying the SAM and START domains perform regulatory roles. We propose the SAM domain has a repressor effect over the GAP domain that is counteracted by the START domain, while the basolateral localization is mediated by a central, non-conserved Cv-c region. We find that DLC3 and Cv-c expression in the Drosophila ectoderm cause identical effects. In contrast, DLC1 is inactive but becomes functional if the central non-conserved DLC1 domain is substituted for that of Cv-c. Thus, these RhoGAP proteins are functionally equivalent, opening up the use of Drosophila as an in vivo model to analyse pharmacologically and genetically the human DLC proteins.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Embryo, Nonmammalian; GTPase-Activating Proteins; Humans; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; Malpighian Tubules; Protein Domains; Tumor Suppressor Proteins
PubMed: 29545526
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22794-9 -
Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews Feb 2016Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) act as morphogens to control patterning and growth in a variety of developing tissues in different species. How BMP morphogen...
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) act as morphogens to control patterning and growth in a variety of developing tissues in different species. How BMP morphogen gradients are established and interpreted in the target tissues has been extensively studied in Drosophila melanogaster. In Drosophila, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a homologue of vertebrate BMP2/4, acts as a morphogen to control dorsal-ventral patterning of the early embryo and anterior-posterior patterning and growth of the wing imaginal disc. Despite intensive efforts over the last twenty years, how the Dpp morphogen gradient in the wing imaginal disc forms remains controversial, while gradient formation in the early embryo is well understood. In this review, we first focus on the current models of Dpp morphogen gradient formation in these two tissues, and then discuss new strategies using genome engineering and nanobodies to tackle open questions.
Topics: Animals; Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Imaginal Discs; Wings, Animal
PubMed: 26684043
DOI: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2015.11.003