|
|
|
|||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
First published online 15 February 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02256
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: vandoren{at}jhu.edu)
Accepted 16 December 2005
Embryonic gonad formation involves intimate contact between germ cells and specialized somatic cells along with the complex morphogenetic movements necessary to create proper gonad architecture. Previously, we have shown that gonad formation in Drosophila requires the homophilic cell-adhesion molecule Drosophila E-cadherin (DE-cadherin), and also Fear of Intimacy (FOI), which is required for stable accumulation of DE-cadherin protein in the gonad. Here, we present an in vivo structure-function analysis of FOI that strongly indicates that zinc transport activity of FOI is essential for gonad development. Mutant forms of FOI that are defective for zinc transport also fail to rescue morphogenesis and DE-cadherin expression in the gonad. We further show that expression of DE-cadherin in the gonad is regulated post-transcriptionally and that foi affects this post-transcriptional control. Expression of DE-cadherin from a ubiquitous (tubulin) promoter still results in gonad-specific accumulation of DE-cadherin, which is strongly reduced in foi mutants. This work indicates that zinc is a crucial regulator of developmental processes and can affect DE-cadherin expression on multiple levels.
Key words: fear of intimacy, shotgun, DE-cadherin, Zinc transport, ZIP proteins, Post-transcriptional gene regulation, Drosophila
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. Shigenobu, Y. Kitadate, C. Noda, and S. Kobayashi Molecular characterization of embryonic gonads by gene expression profiling in Drosophila melanogaster PNAS, September 12, 2006; 103(37): 13728 - 13733. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. J. Cousins, J. P. Liuzzi, and L. A. Lichten Mammalian Zinc Transport, Trafficking, and Signals J. Biol. Chem., August 25, 2006; 281(34): 24085 - 24089. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. Taylor and R. Nicholson Fear of intimacy - a close LIV-1 acquaintancy? Development, August 15, 2006; 133(16): 3053 - 3053. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||