scholarly journals Reconstructing ERK Signaling in the Drosophila Embryo from Fixed Images

Author(s):  
Bomyi Lim ◽  
Carmeline J. Dsilva ◽  
Ioannis G. Kevrekidis ◽  
Stanislav Y. Shvartsman
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath E. Johnson ◽  
Stanislav Y. Shvartsman ◽  
Jared E. Toettcher

The Erk mitogen-activated protein kinase plays diverse roles in animal development, where its activity is associated with phenomena including cell migration, proliferation and differentiation. Its widespread reuse raises a conundrum: when a single kinase like Erk is activated, how does a developing cell know which fate to adopt? Here, we combine precise optogenetic control with genetic perturbations to dissect Erk-dependent cellular responses in the early Drosophila embryo. We find that light-stimulated Erk activity is sufficient to ‘posterior-ize’ the majority of the embryo, leading to massive apical constriction through expression of the autocrine receptor-ligand pair mist and fog. Ectopic contraction at non-terminal positions requires at least 1 h of high-amplitude Erk signaling, whereas a 30 min pulse of Erk activity patterns non-contractile neurogenic ectoderm during the same time window. In contrast to the canonical ‘transient versus sustained’ model, the cell fate switch is triggered by the cumulative load of Erk signaling, not the duration of a single persistent pulse. Our results reveal that the early fly embryo harbors a classic example of dynamic cell fate control, where the total dose of Erk activity selects between two distinct physiological outcomes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (13) ◽  
pp. 1784-1790 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bomyi Lim ◽  
Carmeline J. Dsilva ◽  
Thomas J. Levario ◽  
Hang Lu ◽  
Trudi Schüpbach ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
William Theurkauf

Cell division in eucaryotes depends on coordinated changes in nuclear and cytoskeletal components. In Drosophila melanogaster embryos, the first 13 nuclear divisions occur without cytokinesis. During the final four divisions, nuclei divide in a uniform monolayer at the surface of the embryo. These surface divisions are accompanied by dramatic changes in cortical actin and microtubule structure (Karr and Alberts, 1986), and inhibitor studies indicate that these changes are essential to orderly mitosis (Zalokar and Erk, 1976). Because the early embryo is syncytial, fluorescent probes introduced by microinjection are incorporated in structures associated with all of the nuclei in the blastoderm. In addition, the nuclei divide synchronously every 10 to 20 min. These characteristics make the syncytial blastoderm embryo an excellent system for the analysis of mitotic reorganization of both nuclear and cytoskeletal elements. However, the Drosophila embryo is a large cell, and resolution of cytoskeletal filaments and nuclear structure is hampered by out-of focus signal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shufeng Cheng ◽  
Liang Li ◽  
Chunquan Song ◽  
Huijing Jin ◽  
Shouguo Ma ◽  
...  

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