The function and regulation of the bHLH gene, cato, in Drosophila neurogenesis

Abstract Background bHLH transcription factors play many roles in neural development. cousin of atonal (cato) encodes one such factor that is expressed widely in the developing sensory nervous system of Drosophila. However, nothing definitive was known of its function owing to the lack of specific mutations. Results We characterised the expression pattern of cato in detail using newly raised antibodies and GFP reporter gene constructs. Expression is predominantly in sensory lineages that depend on the atonal and amos proneural genes. In lineages that depend on the scute proneural gene, cato is expressed later and seems to be particularly associated with the type II neurons. Consistent with this, we find evidence that cato is a direct target gene of Atonal and Amos, but not of Scute. We generated two specific mutations of cato. Mutant embryos show several defects in chordotonal sensory lineages, most notably the duplication of the sensory neuron, which appears to be caused by an extra cell division. In addition, we show that cato is required to form the single chordotonal organ that persists in atonal mutant embryos. Conclusions We conclude that although widely expressed in the developing PNS, cato is expressed and regulated very differently in different sensory lineages. Mutant phenotypes correlate with cato's major expression in the chordotonal sensory lineage. In these cells, we propose that it plays roles in sense organ precursor maintenance and/or identity, and in controlling the number of cell divisions in the neuronal branch of the lineage arising from these precursors.</p

Requirement for EGF receptor signalling in neural recruitment during formation of Drosophila chordotonal sense organ clusters

AbstractBackground:Drosophila proneural genes act in the process of selecting neural precursors from undifferentiated ectoderm. The proneural gene atonal is required for the development of precursors of both chordotonal organs (stretch receptors) and photoreceptors. Although these types of sensory element are dissimilar in structure and function, they both occur as organized arrays of neurons. Previous studies have shown that clustering of photoreceptors involves local recruitment, and that signalling by the Drosophila epidermal growth factor receptor (DER) pathway is involved in the recruitment process. We present evidence that a similar mechanism is required for the clustering of embryonic chordotonal organs.Results: We have examined the expression patterns of atonal and genes of the DER pathway in wild-type and mutant backgrounds. Expression of atonal was restricted to a subset of the atonal-requiring chordotonal precursors, which we call founder precursors. The remaining precursors required DER signalling for their selection. Signalling by the founder precursors was initiated by atonal activating, directly or indirectly, rhomboid expression in these cells. Signalling by these founder precursors then provoked a response in the surrounding ectodermal cells, as shown by the activation of expression of the DER target genes pointed and argos. The signal and response then led to recruitment of some of the ectodermal cells to the chordotonal precursor cell fate. DER hyperactivation by misexpression of rhomboid resulted in excessive chordotonal precursor recruitment.Conclusions: Increased numbers of chordotonal precursors are recruited by homeogenetic induction involving signalling via DER from founder precursors to surrounding ectodermal cells. We suggest that the reason chordotonal organs and photoreceptors share a requirement for the proneural gene atonal is that this gene activates a common pathway leading to neural aggregation

Multiple enhancers contribute to spatial but not temporal complexity in the expression of the proneural gene, amos

BACKGROUND: The regulation of proneural gene expression is an important aspect of neurogenesis. In the study of the Drosophila proneural genes, scute and atonal, several themes have emerged that contribute to our understanding of the mechanism of neurogenesis. First, spatial complexity in proneural expression results from regulation by arrays of enhancer elements. Secondly, regulation of proneural gene expression occurs in distinct temporal phases, which tend to be under the control of separate enhancers. Thirdly, the later phase of proneural expression often relies on positive autoregulation. The control of these phases and the transition between them appear to be central to the mechanism of neurogenesis. We present the first investigation of the regulation of the proneural gene, amos. RESULTS: Amos protein expression has a complex pattern and shows temporally distinct phases, in common with previously characterised proneural genes. GFP reporter gene constructs were used to demonstrate that amos has an array of enhancer elements up- and downstream of the gene, which are required for different locations of amos expression. However, unlike other proneural genes, there is no evidence for separable enhancers for the different temporal phases of amos expression. Using mutant analysis and site-directed mutagenesis of potential Amos binding sites, we find no evidence for positive autoregulation as an important part of amos control during neurogenesis. CONCLUSION: For amos, as for other proneural genes, a complex expression pattern results from the sum of a number of simpler sub-patterns driven by specific enhancers. There is, however, no apparent separation of enhancers for distinct temporal phases of expression, and this correlates with a lack of positive autoregulation. For scute and atonal, both these features are thought to be important in the mechanism of neurogenesis. Despite similarities in function and expression between the Drosophila proneural genes, amos is regulated in a fundamentally different way from scute and atonal

Forkhead Transcription Factor Fd3F Cooperates with Rfx to Regulate a Gene Expression Program for Mechanosensory Cilia Specialization

Cilia have evolved hugely diverse structures and functions to participate in a wide variety of developmental and physiological processes. Ciliary specialization requires differences in gene expression, but few transcription factors are known to regulate this, and their molecular function is unclear. Here, we show that the Drosophila Forkhead box (Fox) gene, fd3F, is required for specialization of the mechanosensory cilium of chordotonal (Ch) neurons. fd3F regulates genes for Ch-specific axonemal dyneins and TRPV ion channels, which are required for sensory transduction, and retrograde transport genes, which are required to differentiate their distinct motile and sensory ciliary zones. fd3F is reminiscent of vertebrate Foxj1, a motile cilia regulator, but fd3F regulates motility genes as part of a broader sensory regulation program. Fd3F cooperates with the pan-ciliary transcription factor, Rfx, to regulate its targets directly. This illuminates pathways involved in ciliary specialization and the molecular mechanism of transcription factors that regulate them

ZMYND10 functions in a chaperone relay during axonemal dynein assembly

Molecular chaperones promote the folding and macromolecular assembly of a diverse set of ‘client’ proteins. How ubiquitous chaperone machineries direct their activities towards specific sets of substrates is unclear. Through the use of mouse genetics, imaging and quantitative proteomics we uncover that ZMYND10 is a novel co-chaperone that confers specificity for the FKBP8-HSP90 chaperone complex towards axonemal dynein clients required for cilia motility. Loss of ZMYND10 perturbs the chaperoning of axonemal dynein heavy chains, triggering broader degradation of dynein motor subunits. We show that pharmacological inhibition of FKBP8 phenocopies dynein motor instability associated with the loss of ZMYND10 in airway cells and that human disease-causing variants of ZMYND10 disrupt its ability to act as an FKBP8-HSP90 co-chaperone. Our study indicates that primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), caused by mutations in dynein assembly factors disrupting cytoplasmic pre-assembly of axonemal dynein motors, should be considered a cell-type specific protein-misfolding disease

The Gene Regulatory Cascade Linking Proneural Specification with Differentiation in Drosophila Sensory Neurons

Temporal expression profiling of sensory precursor cells reveals how the atonal proneural transcription factor regulates a specialized neuronal differentiation pathway

The PDZ Protein Canoe/AF-6 Links Ras-MAPK, Notch and Wingless/Wnt Signaling Pathways by Directly Interacting with Ras, Notch and Dishevelled

Over the past few years, it has become increasingly apparent that signal transduction pathways are not merely linear cascades; they are organized into complex signaling networks that require high levels of regulation to generate precise and unique cell responses. However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms by which signaling pathways cross-communicate remain poorly understood. Here we show that the Ras-binding protein Canoe (Cno)/AF-6, a PDZ protein normally associated with cellular junctions, is a key modulator of Wingless (Wg)/Wnt, Ras-Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) and Notch (N) signaling pathways cross-communication. Our data show a repressive effect of Cno/AF-6 on these three signaling pathways through physical interactions with Ras, N and the cytoplasmic protein Dishevelled (Dsh), a key Wg effector. We propose a model in which Cno, through those interactions, actively coordinates, at the membrane level, Ras-MAPK, N and Wg signaling pathways during progenitor specification

Negative Regulation of EGFR/MAPK Pathway by Pumilio in Drosophila melanogaster

In Drosophila melanogaster, specification of wing vein cells and sensory organ precursor (SOP) cells, which later give rise to a bristle, requires EGFR signaling. Here, we show that Pumilio (Pum), an RNA-binding translational repressor, negatively regulates EGFR signaling in wing vein and bristle development. We observed that loss of Pum function yielded extra wing veins and additional bristles. Conversely, overexpression of Pum eliminated wing veins and bristles. Heterozygotes for Pum produced no phenotype on their own, but greatly enhanced phenotypes caused by the enhancement of EGFR signaling. Conversely, over-expression of Pum suppressed the effects of ectopic EGFR signaling. Components of the EGFR signaling pathway are encoded by mRNAs that have Nanos Response Element (NRE)–like sequences in their 3’UTRs; NREs are known to bind Pum to confer regulation in other mRNAs. We show that these NRE-like sequences bind Pum and confer repression on a luciferase reporter in heterologous cells. Taken together, our evidence suggests that Pum functions as a negative regulator of EGFR signaling by directly targeting components of the pathway in Drosophila

Internal representations of smell in the Drosophila brain

Recent advances in sensory neuroscience using Drosophila olfaction as a model system have revealed brain maps representing the external world. Once we understand how the brain's built-in capability generates the internal olfactory maps, we can then elaborate how the brain computes and makes decision to elicit complex behaviors. Here, we review current progress in mapping Drosophila olfactory circuits and discuss their relationships with innate olfactory behaviors