Dependence of Drosophila wing imaginal disc cytonemes on Decapentaplegic

• Published in: Nature Vol. 437; no. 7058; pp. 560 - 563
• Main Authors: Hsiung, F, Ramirez-Weber, F.A, Iwaki, D.D, Kornberg, T.B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 22.09.2005; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Actins - metabolism; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body Patterning; cell biology; Cell physiology; Cellular biology; cytonemes; Cytoskeleton; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - cytology; Drosophila melanogaster - growth & development; Drosophila melanogaster - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; insect development; Insects; Larva - growth & development; Larvae; larval development; Molecular and cellular biology; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - metabolism; Pseudopodia - metabolism; receptors; Receptors, Cell Surface - metabolism; Signal Transduction; transforming growth factors; wings; Wings, Animal - cytology; Wings, Animal - growth & development; Wings, Animal - metabolism; Wing; Growth; Transforming growth factor β; Insecta; Mechanism; Drosophilidae; Regulation(control); Gene; Arthropoda; Invertebrata; Drosophila melanogaster; Diptera; Biological receptor
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature03951

The anterior/posterior (A/P) and dorsal/ventral (D/V) compartment borders that subdivide the wing imaginal discs of Drosophila third instar larvae are each associated with a developmental organizer. Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) superfamily, embodies the activity of the A/P organizer. It is produced at the A/P organizer and distributes in a gradient of decreasing concentration to regulate target genes, functioning non-autonomously to regulate growth and patterning of both the anterior and posterior compartments. Wingless (Wg) is produced at the D/V organizer and embodies its activity. The mechanisms that distribute Dpp and Wg are not known, but proposed mechanisms include extracellular diffusion, successive transfers between neighbouring cells, vesicle-mediated movement, and direct transfer via cytonemes. Cytonemes are actin-based filopodial extensions that have been found to orient towards the A/P organizer from outlying cells. Here we show that in the wing disc, cytonemes orient towards both the A/P and D/V organizers, and that their presence and orientation correlates with Dpp signalling. We also show that the Dpp receptor, Thickveins (Tkv), is present in punctae that move along cytonemes. These observations are consistent with a role for cytonemes in signal transduction.