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First published online September 1, 2004

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A fertile migration

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) often migrate long distances through animal embryos to the future gonad, guided by attractive and repulsive cues from surrounding somatic cells. On p. 4545, Hanyu-Nakamura and co-workers investigate how the lipid phosphate phosphatases Wunen (Wun) and Wun2 control PGC (pole cell) survival and migration in Drosophila. Somatically expressed Wun and Wun2 are known to provide a repulsive cue for pole cell migration and to reduce their viability when overexpressed. But this new research shows that maternal Wun2 promotes pole cell survival in a cell-autonomous manner, and that this survival is dependent on the balance between the activity of Wun and Wun2 in somatic cells and Wun2 in pole cells. The researchers suggest that somatic Wun and Wun2 direct pole cell migration by depleting an extracellular substrate that is essential for pole cell survival, and speculate that similar mechanisms may act in other developmental processes.

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Related articles in Development:

Germ cell-autonomous Wunen2 is required for germline development in Drosophila embryos

Kazuko Hanyu-Nakamura, Satoru Kobayashi, and Akira Nakamura
Development 2004 131: 4545-4553. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?