scholarly journals Specification of cell fate in the developing eye of Drosophila

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Hafen ◽  
Konrad Basler
Keyword(s):  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Photoreceptor Cell ◽  
Nuclear Protein ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Positional Information ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Eye Imaginal Disc

Determination of cell fate in the developing eye of Drosophila depends on cellular interactions. In the eye imaginal disc, an initially unpatterned epithelial sheath of cells, single cells are specified in regular intervals to become the R8 photoreceptor cells. Genes such as Notch and scabrous participate in this process suggesting that specification of ommatidial founder cells and the formation of bristles in the adult epidermis involve a similar mechanism known as lateral inhibition. The subsequent steps of ommatidial assembly involve a different mechanism: undetermined cells read their position based on the contacts they make with neighbors that have already begun to differentiate. The development of the R7 photoreceptor cell is best understood. The key role seems to be played by sevenless, a receptor tyrosine kinase on the surface of the R7 precursor. It transmits the positional information – most likely encoded by boss on the neighboring R8 cell membrane – into the cell via its tyrosine kinase that activates a signal transduction cascade. Two components of this cascade – Sos and sina – have been identified genetically, sina encodes a nuclear protein whose expression is not limited to R7. Constitutive activation of the sevenless kinase by overexpression results in the diversion of other ommatidial cells into the R7 pathway, suggesting that activation of the sevenless signalling pathway is sufficient to specify R7 development.

dachshund encodes a nuclear protein required for normal eye and leg development in Drosophila

Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 3473-3486 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Mardon ◽  
N.M. Solomon ◽  
G.M. Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Posterior Margin ◽  
Imaginal Disc ◽  
Nuclear Protein ◽  
Eye Disc ◽  
Leg Development ◽  
Disc Cells ◽  
Neural Specification ◽  
Eye Imaginal Disc

Neural specification and differentiation in the Drosophila eye sweep across the unpatterned epithelial monolayer of the eye imaginal disc following a developmental wave termed the morphogenetic furrow. The furrow begins at the posterior margin of the eye imaginal disc and moves anteriorly as a linear front. Progression of the furrow requires the function of hedgehog, which encodes a secreted signaling protein. We characterize mutations in dachshund, a gene that encodes a novel nuclear protein required for normal cell-fate determination of imaginal disc cells. In the absence of dachshund function, cells at the posterior margin of the eye disc fail to follow a retinal differentiation pathway and appear to adopt a cuticle fate instead. These cells are therefore unable to respond to pattern propagation signals such as hedgehog and furrow initiation does not occur. In contrast, cells in more anterior portions of the eye disc are able to differentiate as retinal cells in the absence of dachshund activity and respond normally to patterning signals. These results suggest that posterior margin cells are distinct from other cells of the eye imaginal disc by early stages of development. dachshund is also necessary for proper differentiation of a subset of segments in the developing leg. Null mutations in dachshund result in flies with no eyes and shortened legs.

Control of photoreceptor cell morphology, planar polarity and epithelial integrity during Drosophila eye development

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (9) ◽  
pp. 2247-2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda T. Pickup ◽  
Michele L. Lamka ◽  
Qi Sun ◽  
Man Lun R. Yip ◽  
Howard D. Lipshitz
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Cell Morphology ◽  
Photoreceptor Cell ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Planar Polarity ◽  
Tracheal System ◽  
General Role ◽  
Epithelial Integrity ◽  
Jnk Signaling

We report that the hindsight (hnt) gene, which encodes a nuclear zinc-finger protein, regulates cell morphology, cell fate specification, planar cell polarity and epithelial integrity during Drosophila retinal development. In the third instar larval eye imaginal disc, HNT protein expression begins in the morphogenetic furrow and is refined to cells in the developing photoreceptor cell clusters just before their determination as neurons. In hnt mutant larval eye tissue, furrow markers persist abnormally posterior to the furrow, there is a delay in specification of preclusters as cells exit the furrow, there are morphological defects in the preclusters and recruitment of cells into specific R cell fates often does not occur. Additionally, genetically mosaic ommatidia with one or more hnt mutant outer photoreceptor cells, have planar polarity defects that include achirality, reversed chirality and misrotation. Mutants in the JNK pathway act as dominant suppressors of the hnt planar polarity phenotype, suggesting that HNT functions to downregulate JUN kinase (JNK) signaling during the establishment of ommatidial planar polarity. HNT expression continues in the photoreceptor cells of the pupal retina. When an ommatidium contains four or more hnt mutant photoreceptor cells, both genetically mutant and genetically wild-type photoreceptor cells fall out of the retinal epithelium, indicating a role for HNT in maintenance of epithelial integrity. In the late pupal stages, HNT regulates the morphogenesis of rhabdomeres within individual photoreceptor cells and the separation of the rhabdomeres of adjacent photoreceptor cells. Apical F-actin is depleted in hnt mutant photoreceptor cells before the observed defects in cellular morphogenesis and epithelial integrity. The analyses presented here, together with our previous studies in the embryonic amnioserosa and tracheal system, show that HNT has a general role in regulation of the F-actin-based cytoskeleton, JNK signaling, cell morphology and epithelial integrity during development.

scholarly journals Introduction to provocative questions in left–right asymmetry

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1710) ◽  
pp. 20150399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Levin ◽  
Amar J. S. Klar ◽  
Ann F. Ramsdell
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Asymmetric Cell Division ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Dna Chain ◽  
Left Right Asymmetry ◽  
Anterior Posterior

Left–right asymmetry is a phenomenon that has a broad appeal—to anatomists, developmental biologists and evolutionary biologists—because it is a morphological feature of organisms that spans scales of size and levels of organization, from unicellular protists, to vertebrate organs, to social behaviour. Here, we highlight a number of important aspects of asymmetry that encompass several areas of biology—cell-level, physiological, genetic, anatomical and evolutionary components—and that are based on research conducted in diverse model systems, ranging from single cells to invertebrates to human developmental disorders. Together, the contributions in this issue reveal a heretofore-unsuspected variety in asymmetry mechanisms, including ancient chirality elements that could underlie a much more universal basis to asymmetry development, and provide much fodder for thought with far reaching implications in biomedical, developmental, evolutionary and synthetic biology. The new emerging theme of binary cell-fate choice, promoted by asymmetric cell division of a deterministic cell, has focused on investigating asymmetry mechanisms functioning at the single cell level. These include cytoskeleton and DNA chain asymmetry—mechanisms that are amplified and coordinated with those employed for the determination of the anterior–posterior and dorsal–ventral axes of the embryo. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Provocative questions in left–right asymmetry’.

scholarly journals Single-cell RNA-seq reveals dynamic transcriptome profiling in human early neural differentiation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhouchun Shang ◽  
Dongsheng Chen ◽  
Quanlei Wang ◽  
Shengpeng Wang ◽  
Qiuting Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Neural Differentiation ◽  
Embryoid Body ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Cell Subpopulation ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Neural Lineage

AbstractBackgroundInvestigating cell fate decision and subpopulation specification in the context of the neural lineage is fundamental to understanding neurogenesis and neurodegenerative diseases. The differentiation process of neural-tube-like rosettes in vitro is representative of neural tube structures, which are composed of radially organized, columnar epithelial cells and give rise to functional neural cells. However, the underlying regulatory network of cell fate commitment during early neural differentiation remains elusive.ResultsIn this study, we investigated the genome-wide transcriptome profile of single cells from six consecutive reprogramming and neural differentiation time points and identified cellular subpopulations present at each differentiation stage. Based on the inferred reconstructed trajectory and the characteristics of subpopulations contributing the most towards commitment to the central nervous system (CNS) lineage at each stage during differentiation, we identified putative novel transcription factors in regulating neural differentiation. In addition, we dissected the dynamics of chromatin accessibility at the neural differentiation stages and revealed active c/s-regulatory elements for transcription factors known to have a key role in neural differentiation as well as for those that we suggest are also involved. Further, communication network analysis demonstrated that cellular interactions most frequently occurred among embryoid body (EB) stage and each cell subpopulation possessed a distinctive spectrum of ligands and receptors associated with neural differentiation which could reflect the identity of each subpopulation.ConclusionsOur study provides a comprehensive and integrative study of the transcriptomics and epigenetics of human early neural differentiation, which paves the way for a deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms driving the differentiation of the neural lineage.

Genetic dissection of signal transduction mediated by the sevenless receptor tyrosine kinase in Drosophila

1993 ◽  
Vol 340 (1293) ◽  
pp. 273-278 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Receptor Tyrosine Kinase ◽  
Photoreceptor Cell ◽  
Genetic Dissection ◽  
Genetic Screens ◽  
Constitutive Activation ◽  
Sevenless Receptor Tyrosine Kinase

The specification of the R7 photoreceptor cell fate in the developing eye of Drosophila depends on the local activation of the sevenless (Sev) receptor tyrosine kinase by Boss, a protein expressed on the membrane of the neighbouring R8 cell. Constitutive activation of the Sev receptor results in a dosage-dependent increase in the number of R7 cells per ommatidium. Genetic screens have been used to identify mutations that alter the efficiency of signal transduction. Subsequent molecular characterization of the corresponding genes has led to the identification of a number of proteins involved in transducing the signal from the receptor to the nucleus. In contrast to the receptor and its ligand, these components are shared between different signal transduction pathways not only in Drosophila but are also homologous to components involved in signal transduction in other organisms.

Cell-fate determination in the developing Drosophila eye: role of the rough gene

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 703-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. Heberlein ◽  
M. Mlodzik ◽  
G.M. Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Double Mutant ◽  
Homeobox Gene ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Cell Fate Determination ◽  
Cellular Interactions ◽  
Developmental Defects ◽  
Fate Determination ◽  
Drosophila Eye ◽  
Cell Type Specific

The homeobox-gene rough is required in photoreceptor cells R2 and R5 for normal ommatidial assembly in the developing Drosophila eye. We have used several cell-type-specific markers and double mutant combinations to analyze cell-fate determination in rough. We show that the cells that would normally become R2 and/or R5 express a marker, a lacZ insertion in the seven-up (svp) gene, which is indicative of the R1/3/4/6 cell fate. In addition, the analysis of mitotically induced svp, ro double mutant clones in the eye indicates that in rough all outer photoreceptors are under the genetic control of the svp gene. These results show that, in the absence of rough function, R2 and R5 fail to be correctly determined and appear to be transformed into cells of the R3/4/1/6 subtype. This transformation and the subsequent developmental defects do not preclude the recruitment of R7 cells. However, the presence of ommatidia containing more than one R7 and/or R8 cell in rough implies a complex network of cellular interactions underlying cell-fate determination in the Drosophila retina.

Dynamics of Drosophila eye development and temporal requirements of sevenless expression

Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 723-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Basler ◽  
E. Hafen
Keyword(s):  
Imaginal Disc ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Eye Development ◽  
Photoreceptor Cells ◽  
Anterior Border ◽  
Conditional Allele ◽  
And Function ◽  
Internal Marker ◽  
Eye Imaginal Disc

The development of the compound eye of Drosophila consists of a linear, stereotyped program starting at the posterior end of the eye imaginal disc and progressing towards the anterior border. The determination of the R7 photoreceptor cells is part of this process and is dependent on the sevenless gene. In this study, we used a heat-shock-inducible sevenless gene as a conditional allele to determine the exact temporal requirements of sevenless gene expression and to reveal the stages of ommatidial development during which the presumptive R7 cell can respond to the presence of sevenless protein. Our results indicate that sevenless gene function is only required during a brief, defined period for the initiation of R7 development; subsequently sevenless is dispensable for both differentiation and function of the R7 photoreceptors. Furthermore, using rescue of R7 cells as an internal marker to monitor the progression of eye development we could examine when and at what rate ommatidial columns form.

STAT3-Mediated Signaling in the Determination of Rod Photoreceptor Cell Fate in Mouse Retina

2004 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Shao-Min Zhang ◽  
Jiye Wei ◽  
Hua Qin ◽  
Lixin Zhang ◽  
Bing Xie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Photoreceptor Cell ◽  
Mouse Retina ◽  
Rod Photoreceptor
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