|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
First published online 10 November 2004
doi: 10.1242/dev.01521
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Author for correspondence (e-mail:
steth{at}ifm.liu.se)
Accepted 6 October 2004
In vertebrates, neurons often undergo apoptosis after differentiating and extending their axons. By contrast, in the developing nervous system of invertebrate embryos apoptosis typically occurs soon after cells are generated. Here, we show that the Drosophila dMP2 and MP1 pioneer neurons undergo segment-specific apoptosis at late embryonic stages, long after they have extended their axons and have performed their pioneering role in guiding follower axons. This segmental specificity is achieved by differential expression of the Hox gene Abdominal B, which in posterior segments prevents pioneer neuron death postmitotically and cell-autonomously by repressing the RHG-motif cell death activators reaper and grim. Our results identify the first clear case of a cell-autonomous and anti-apoptotic role for a Hox gene in vivo. In addition, they provide a novel mechanism linking Hox positional information to differences in neuronal architecture along the anteroposterior axis by the selective elimination of mature neurons.
Key words: Drosophila, Abd-B, reaper, grim, dMP2, MP1
Related articles in Development:
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Rogulja-Ortmann, S. Renner, and G. M. Technau Antagonistic roles for Ultrabithorax and Antennapedia in regulating segment-specific apoptosis of differentiated motoneurons in the Drosophila embryonic central nervous system Development, October 15, 2008; 135(20): 3435 - 3445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P.-L. Bardet, G. Kolahgar, A. Mynett, I. Miguel-Aliaga, J. Briscoe, P. Meier, and J.-P. Vincent A fluorescent reporter of caspase activity for live imaging PNAS, September 16, 2008; 105(37): 13901 - 13905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Z. Parrish, K. Emoto, L. Y. Jan, and Y. N. Jan Polycomb genes interact with the tumor suppressor genes hippo and warts in the maintenance of Drosophila sensory neuron dendrites Genes & Dev., April 15, 2007; 21(8): 956 - 972. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Rogulja-Ortmann, K. Luer, J. Seibert, C. Rickert, and G. M. Technau Programmed cell death in the embryonic central nervous system of Drosophila melanogaster Development, January 1, 2007; 134(1): 105 - 116. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. P.-s. Luke, G. Sui, H. Liu, and Y. Shi Yin Yang 1 Physically Interacts with Hoxa11 and Represses Hoxa11-dependent Transcription J. Biol. Chem., November 3, 2006; 281(44): 33226 - 33232. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Garces and S. Thor Specification of Drosophila aCC motoneuron identity by a genetic cascade involving even-skipped, grain and zfh1 Development, April 15, 2006; 133(8): 1445 - 1455. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. Liu, T. J. Strauss, M. B. Potts, and S. Cameron Direct regulation of egl-1 and of programmed cell death by the Hox protein MAB-5 and by CEH-20, a C. elegans homolog of Pbx1 Development, February 15, 2006; 133(4): 641 - 650. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
