Constructive synergism of regulatory genes expressed in the course of eye and muscle development and regeneration

The expression patterns of regulatory genes involved in the formation of the eye in Drosophila and vertebrates during early development were analyzed comparatively. The results demonstrated that, although the compound eyes of invertebrates and the camera eyes of vertebrates markedly differ in their structure and development, they exhibit a striking similarity at the molecular level. This similarity manifests itself in the fact that the homologous regulatory genes ey/Pax, eya/Eya, dac/Dac, and so/Six, which control the early stages of eye development, are expressed in both groups. Not only was synergism shown in the expression of early regulatory genes, but direct interactions of ey/Pax- and so/Six-encoded transcription factors with DNA and protein-protein interactions between nuclear transcription factors encoded by eya/Eya and dac/Dac were also revealed. Transcription factors produced by expressing gene cascades - ey/eya/dac/so in invertebrates and Pax/Eya/Dac/Six in vertebrates - form the transcription complexes that control eye morphogenesis. Paradoxically, the development of muscles in vertebrates proved to involve the expression of genes homologous to the same regulatory genes that control eye morphogenesis in invertebrates and vertebrates