Hedgehog signaling and the axial patterning of Drosophila wings

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 585-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J Brook
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Limb Development ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Cubitus Interruptus ◽  
Axial Patterning ◽  
Correct Location ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Anterior Posterior

Growth and cell fate in the anterior-posterior (A/P) axis of the developing wing of Drosophila melanogaster are controlled by a stripe of cells bisecting the axis called the A/P organizer. Hedgehog (Hh) signaling from posterior to anterior cells induces the organizer. Several Hh-responsive genes expressed by cells of the organizer mediate its patterning activity. The Hh-signaling pathway controls the post-translational modification of the transcription factor Cubitus-interruptus (Ci) and the resulting local activation of Ci is required for the correct location of the A/P organizer.Key words: Hedgehog, morphogen, Drosophila, limb development, signal transduction.

scholarly journals An absolute requirement for Cubitus interruptus in Hedgehog signaling

Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (5) ◽  
pp. 733-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Methot ◽  
K. Basler
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Signal Transduction Pathway ◽  
Transduction Pathway ◽  
Cubitus Interruptus ◽  
Target Gene Expression ◽  
Hh Signaling

Hedgehog (Hh) proteins play diverse organizing roles in animal development by regulating gene expression in responding cells. Several components of the Hh signal transduction pathway have been identified, yet their precise role in mediating the various outputs of the pathway is still poorly understood. The Gli homolog Cubitus interruptus (Ci) is involved in controlling the transcription of Drosophila Hh target genes and thus represents the most downstream component known in this pathway. We address the question of whether the Hh pathway is distally branched or, in other words, whether the regulation of Ci activity is the sole output of Hh signaling. Putative Ci-independent branches of Hh signaling are explored by analyzing the behavior of cells that lack Ci but have undergone maximal activation of the Hh transduction pathway due to the removal of Patched (Ptc). The analysis of target gene expression and morphogenetic read-outs of Hh in embryonic, larval and adult stages indicates that Ci is absolutely required for all examined aspects of Hh outputs. We interpret this as evidence against the existence of Ci-independent branches in the Hh signal transduction pathway and propose that most cases of apparent Ci/Gli-independent Hh output can be attributed to the derepression of target gene expression in the absence of Ci/Gli repressor function.

Role of knot (kn) in Wing Patterning in Drosophila

Genetics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 147 (3) ◽  
pp. 1203-1212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerina Nestoras ◽  
Helena Lee ◽  
Jym Mohler
Keyword(s):  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Imaginal Disc ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling Pathway ◽  
Posterior Compartment ◽  
Drosophila Wing ◽  
Compartment Boundary ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Embryonic Segmentation ◽  
Anterior Posterior

We have undertaken a genetic analysis of new strong alleles of knot (kn). The original kn1 mutation causes an alteration of wing patterning similar to that associated with mutations of fused (fu), an apparent fusion of veins 3 and 4 in the wing. However, unlike fu, strong kn mutations do not affect embryonic segmentation and indicate that kn is not a component of a general Hh (Hedgehog)-signaling pathway. Instead we find that kn has a specific role in those cells of the wing imaginal disc that are subject to ptc-mediated Hh-signaling. Our results suggest a model for patterning the medial portion of the Drosophila wing, whereby the separation of veins 3 and 4 is maintained by kn activation in the intervening region in response to Hh-signaling across the adjacent anterior-posterior compartment boundary.

scholarly journals GLI transcriptional repression is inert prior to Hedgehog pathway activation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel K. Lex ◽  
Weiqiang Zhou ◽  
Zhicheng Ji ◽  
Kristin N. Falkenstein ◽  
Kaleigh E. Schuler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Limb Development ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Hedgehog Pathway ◽  
Transcriptional Repressors ◽  
Posterior Limb ◽  
Gli Proteins ◽  
Pathway Activation ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Anterior Posterior

In the absence of Hedgehog (HH) signaling, GLI proteins are post-translationally modified within cilia into transcriptional repressors that subsequently prevent sub-threshold activation of HH target genes. GLI repression is presumably important for preventing precocious expression of target genes before the onset of HH pathway activation, a presumption that underlies the pre-patterning model of anterior-posterior limb polarity. Here, we report that GLI3 repressor is abundant and binds to target genes in early limb development. However, contrary to expectations, GLI3 repression neither regulates the activity of GLI enhancers nor expression of HH target genes as it does after HH signaling has been established. Within the cilia, the transition to active GLI repression is accompanied by increases in axonemal GLI3 localization, possibly signifying altered GLI3 processing. Together, our results demonstrate that GLI3 repression does not prevent precocious activation of HH target genes, or have a pre-patterning role in regulating anterior-posterior limb polarity.

engrailed and polyhomeotic interactions are required to maintain the A/P boundary of the Drosophila developing wing

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (15) ◽  
pp. 2771-2780 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Maschat ◽  
N. Serrano ◽  
N.B. Randsholt ◽  
G. Geraud
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Polycomb Group ◽  
Posterior Compartment ◽  
Cubitus Interruptus ◽  
Anterior Compartment ◽  
Embryonic Segmentation ◽  
Wing Morphogenesis ◽  
Anterior Posterior

Engrailed is a nuclear regulatory protein with essential roles in embryonic segmentation and wing morphogenesis. One of its regulatory targets in embryos was shown to be the Polycomb group gene, polyhomeotic. We show here that transheterozygous adult flies, mutant for both engrailed and polyhomeotic, show a gap in the fourth vein. In the corresponding larval imaginal discs, a polyhomeotic-lacZ enhancer trap is not normally activated in anterior cells adjacent to the anterior-posterior boundary. This intermediary region corresponds to the domain of low engrailed expression that appears in the anterior compartment, during L3. Several arguments show that engrailed is responsible for the induction of polyhomeotic in these cells. The role of polyhomeotic in this intermediary region is apparently to maintain the repression of hedgehog in the anterior cells abutting the anterior-posterior boundary, since these cells ectopically express hedgehog when polyhomeotic is not activated. This leads to ectopic expressions first of patched, then of cubitus interruptus and decapentaplegic in the posterior compartment, except for the dorsoventral border cells that are not affected. Thus posterior cells express a new set of genes that are normally characteristic of anterior cells, suggesting a change in the cell identity. Altogether, our data indicate that engrailed and polyhomeotic interactions are required to maintain the anterior-posterior boundary and the posterior cell fate, just prior to the evagination of the wing.

Hedgehog Signaling Is Dispensable for Adult Murine Hematopoiesis and Leukemogenesis.

Blood ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 1391-1391
Author(s):  
Inga Hofmann Zhang ◽  
Elizabeth H. Stover ◽  
Dana E. Cullen ◽  
Junhao Mao ◽  
Kelly J. Morgan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Progenitor Cells ◽  
Cell Fate ◽  
Intracellular Signaling ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Hematopoietic Stem ◽  
Developmental Abnormalities ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Pharmacologic Inhibition

Abstract Hedgehog (Hh) pathway proteins are a highly conserved family of intracellular signaling molecules that are critical for the development of multiple organs and tissues, and play a role in cell fate determination of self-renewing tissues in the adult. Mutations that impair Hh signaling have been associated with developmental abnormalities, and recent studies indicate that Hh plays an important role in hemangioblast formation and in adult hematopoiesis, as well as in the differentiation and proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and progenitor cells. We used a genetic and pharmacologic approach to define the role of the Hh pathway in adult hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. We report the unexpected finding that loss of Hh signaling through conditional deletion of Smoothened (Smo) in the adult hematopoietic compartment has no effect on adult hematopoiesis, including peripheral blood count, number or cell cycle status of stem and progenitor cells, hematopoietic colony forming potential, long-term repopulating activity in competitive repopulation assays, or stress-response to serial 5-fluorouracil treatment. In support of these observations based on genetic inactivation of the pathway, we observed that pharmacologic inhibition of Hh signaling with a potent and highly selective small molecule antagonist of Smo has no apparent effect on hematopoiesis in the mouse in vivo. In addition, we observed that Hh signaling is not required for the development of MLL-AF9 mediated leukemia. Taken together, these data indicate that Hh signaling is dispensable for normal hematopoietic development and leukemogenesis, and that pharmacologic inhibition of Hh signaling, as a therapeutic strategy in treatment of solid tumors with constitutive Hh pathway activation is not likely to be associated with unmanageable hematopoietic toxicity.

scholarly journals Hedgehog signaling enables nutrition-responsive inhibition of an alternative morph in a polyphenic beetle

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (21) ◽  
pp. 5982-5987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teiya Kijimoto ◽  
Armin P. Moczek
Keyword(s):  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Developmental Evolution ◽  
Genetic Components ◽  
Alternative Phenotypes ◽  
Novel Traits ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Linear State ◽  
Horned Beetles ◽  
Anterior Posterior

The recruitment of modular developmental genetic components into new developmental contexts has been proposed as a central mechanism enabling the origin of novel traits and trait functions without necessitating the origin of novel pathways. Here, we investigate the function of the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, a highly conserved pathway best understood for its role in patterning anterior/posterior (A/P) polarity of diverse traits, in the developmental evolution of beetle horns, an evolutionary novelty, and horn polyphenisms, a highly derived form of environment-responsive trait induction. We show that interactions among pathway members are conserved during development of Onthophagus horned beetles and have retained the ability to regulate A/P polarity in traditional appendages, such as legs. At the same time, the Hh signaling pathway has acquired a novel and highly unusual role in the nutrition-dependent regulation of horn polyphenisms by actively suppressing horn formation in low-nutrition males. Down-regulation of Hh signaling lifts this inhibition and returns a highly derived sigmoid horn body size allometry to its presumed ancestral, linear state. Our results suggest that recruitment of the Hh signaling pathway may have been a key step in the evolution of trait thresholds, such as those involved in horn polyphenisms and the corresponding origin of alternative phenotypes and complex allometries.

scholarly journals Atrophin–Rpd3 complex represses Hedgehog signaling by acting as a corepressor of CiR

2013 ◽  
Vol 203 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Zhang ◽  
Jing Feng ◽  
Chenyu Pan ◽  
Xiangdong Lv ◽  
Wenqing Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Target Gene ◽  
Cubitus Interruptus ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
N Terminus ◽  
Hh Signaling

The evolutionarily conserved Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is transduced by the Cubitus interruptus (Ci)/Gli family of transcription factors that exist in two distinct repressor (CiR/GliR) and activator (CiA/GliA) forms. Aberrant activation of Hh signaling is associated with various human cancers, but the mechanism through which CiR/GliR properly represses target gene expression is poorly understood. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster and zebrafish models to define a repressor function of Atrophin (Atro) in Hh signaling. Atro directly bound to Ci through its C terminus. The N terminus of Atro interacted with a histone deacetylase, Rpd3, to recruit it to a Ci-binding site at the decapentaplegic (dpp) locus and reduce dpp transcription through histone acetylation regulation. The repressor function of Atro in Hh signaling was dependent on Ci. Furthermore, Rerea, a homologue of Atro in zebrafish, repressed the expression of Hh-responsive genes. We propose that the Atro–Rpd3 complex plays a conserved role to function as a CiR corepressor.

scholarly journals Mice Deficient in the Fused Homolog Do Not Exhibit Phenotypes Indicative of Perturbed Hedgehog Signaling during Embryonic Development

2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (16) ◽  
pp. 7042-7053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao-Hsueh Chen ◽  
Nan Gao ◽  
Takatoshi Kawakami ◽  
Pao-Tien Chuang
Keyword(s):  
Signal Transduction ◽  
Embryonic Development ◽  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
Gene Activation ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Suppressor Of Fused ◽  
Gli Transcription Factors ◽  
Processing Activity ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Deficient Mice

ABSTRACT Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays a major role in multiple aspects of embryonic development. To understand how a single Hh signal is capable of generating distinct readouts in Hh-responsive cells requires elucidation of the signal transduction cascade at the molecular level. Key components that mediate Hh signal transduction downstream of the receptor include Fused (Fu), Suppressor of fused (Sufu), and Costal-2 (Cos2) or the vertebrate homologs Kif27/Kif7. Studies with both invertebrates and vertebrates have led to a model in which a protein complex composed of Fu, Sufu, and Cos2 controls the processing, activity, and subcellular distribution of the Ci/Gli transcription factors responsible for Hh target gene activation. These converging results obtained with different species reaffirm the prevailing view of pathway conservation during evolution. Genetic studies of Fu, Sufu, and Kif27/Kif7 in mice are required to provide further verification of Hh pathway conservation. To this end, we generated a gene-targeted allele of Fu in mice. Surprisingly, our analysis indicates that Fu-deficient mice do not exhibit any embryonic phenotypes indicative of perturbed Hh signaling. This could be due to either functional redundancy or Hh pathway divergence and clearly indicates greater complexity of Hh signaling in vertebrates.

scholarly journals Hedgehog signaling controls segmentation dynamics and diversity via msx1 in a spider embryo

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (37) ◽  
pp. eaba7261
Author(s):  
Yasuko Akiyama-Oda ◽  
Hiroki Oda
Keyword(s):  
Hedgehog Signaling ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Region ◽  
Altered States ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Body Patterning ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
Hh Signaling ◽  
Anterior Posterior

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling plays fundamental roles in animal body patterning. Understanding its mechanistic complexity requires simple tractable systems that can be used for these studies. In the early spider embryo, Hh signaling mediates the formation of overall anterior-posterior polarity, yet it remains unclear what mechanisms link the initial Hh signaling activity with body axis segmentation, in which distinct periodic stripe-forming dynamics occur depending on the body region. We performed genome-wide searches for genes that transcriptionally respond to altered states of Hh signaling. Characterization of genes negatively regulated by Hh signaling suggested that msx1, encoding a conserved transcription factor, functions as a key segmentation gene. Knockdown of msx1 prevented all dynamic processes causing spatial repetition of stripes, including temporally repetitive oscillations and bi-splitting, and temporally nonrepetitive tri-splitting. Thus, Hh signaling controls segmentation dynamics and diversity via msx1. These genome-wide data from an invertebrate illuminate novel mechanistic features of Hh-based patterning.

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