Competing Activities of Heterotrimeric G Proteins in Drosophila Wing Maturation

Drosophila genome encodes six alpha-subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins. The Gαs alpha-subunit is involved in the post-eclosion wing maturation, which consists of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and cell death, accompanied by unfolding of the pupal wing into the firm adult flight organ. Here we show that another alpha-subunit Gαo can specifically antagonize the Gαs activities by competing for the Gβ13F/Gγ1 subunits of the heterotrimeric Gs protein complex. Loss of Gβ13F, Gγ1, or Gαs, but not any other G protein subunit, results in prevention of post-eclosion cell death and failure of the wing expansion. However, cell death prevention alone is not sufficient to induce the expansion defect, suggesting that the failure of epithelial-mesenchymal transition is key to the folded wing phenotypes. Overactivation of Gαs with cholera toxin mimics expression of constitutively activated Gαs and promotes wing blistering due to precocious cell death. In contrast, co-overexpression of Gβ13F and Gγ1 does not produce wing blistering, revealing the passive role of the Gβγ in the Gαs-mediated activation of apoptosis, but hinting at the possible function of Gβγ in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Our results provide a comprehensive functional analysis of the heterotrimeric G protein proteome in the late stages of Drosophila wing development

DISSOCIATIVE IONIZATION OF LIQUID WATER INDUCED BY VIBRATIONAL OVERTONE EXCITATION

Photochemistry of vibrationally activated ground electronic state liquid water to produce H/sup +/ and OH/sup -/ ions has been initiated by pulsed, single-photon excitation of overtone and combination transitions. Transient conductivity measurements were used to determine quantum yields as a function of photon energy, isotopic composition, and temperature. The equilibrium relaxation rate following perturbation by the vibrationally activated reaction was also measured as a function of temperature reaction and isotopic composition. In H/sub 2/O, the quantum yield at 283 +- 1 K varies from 2 x 10/sup -9/ to 4 x 10/sup -5/ for wave numbers between 7605 and 18140 cm/sup -1/. In D/sub 2/O, the dependence of quantum yield on wavelength has the same qualitative shape as for H/sub 2/O, but is shifted to lower quantum yields. The position of a minimum in the quantum yield versus hydrogen mole fraction curve is consistent with a lower quantum yield for excitation of HOD in D/sub 2/O than for excitation of D/sub 2/O. The ionic recombination distance of 5.8 +- 0.5 A is constant within experimental error with temperature in H/sub 2/O and with isotopic composition at 25 +- 1/sup 0/C

Bursicon Signaling Mutations Separate the Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition From Programmed Cell Death During Drosophila melanogaster Wing Maturation

Following eclosion from the pupal case, wings of the immature adult fly unfold and expand to present a flat wing blade. During expansion the epithelia, which earlier produced the wing cuticle, delaminate from the cuticle, and the epithelial cells undergo an epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). The resulting fibroblast-like cells then initiate a programmed cell death, produce an extracellular matrix that bonds dorsal and ventral wing cuticles, and exit the wing. Mutants that block wing expansion cause persistence of intact epithelia within the unexpanded wing. However, the normal progression of chromatin condensation and fragmentation accompanying programmed cell death in these cells proceeds with an approximately normal time course. These observations establish that the Bursicon/Rickets signaling pathway is necessary for both wing expansion and initiation of the EMT that leads to removal of the epithelial cells from the wing. They demonstrate that a different signal can be used to activate programmed cell death and show that two distinct genetic programs are in progress in these cells during wing maturation