Development 130, e1401 (2003)
Copyright © 2003 The Company of Biologists Limited
Novel mode of JAK-STAT pathway regulation
By adapting a technique that assays receptor dimerization in vitro for use
in whole Drosophila embryos, Brown et al., on
p. 3077, have discovered a
novel level of JAK/STAT signalling regulation. The authors tackled the
question of whether the JAK/STAT pathway is activated by ligand-induced
receptor dimerization by studying DOME, the ubiquitously expressed fly
receptor of the JAK/STAT pathway. They report that in developing fly embryos,
DOME homo-dimerization is developmentally regulated and is not ligand induced.
Moreover, ligand expression can only activate the pathway or affect embryonic
development in cells with dimerized receptors. Thus, the ability to induce
JAK/STAT signalling can be regulated by controlling receptor dimerization
prior to ligand binding. As this pathway in flies is functionally identical to
that in vertebrates, this regulatory mechanism could be conserved across
phyla.
Related articles in Development:
- Novel level of signalling control in the JAK/STAT pathway revealed by in situ visualisation of protein-protein interaction during Drosophila development
- Stephen Brown, Nan Hu, and James Castelli-Gair Hombría
Development 2003 130: 3077-3084.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
