Genetic Screens to Analyze Pattern Formation of Egg and Embryo in Drosophila: A Personal History.

In Drosophila development, the axes of the egg and future embryo are established during oogenesis. To learn about the underlying genetic and molecular pathways that lead to axis formation, I conducted a large-scale genetic screen at the beginning of my independent career. This led to the eventual understanding that both anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral pattern information is transmitted from the oocyte to the surrounding follicle cells and in turn from the follicle cells back to the oocyte. How I came to conduct this screen and what further insights were gained by studying the mutants isolated in the screen are the topics of this autobiographical article.

In vivo severity ranking of Ras pathway mutations associated with developmental disorders.

Germ-line mutations in components of the Ras/MAPK pathway result in developmental disorders called RASopathies, affecting about 1/1,000 human births. Rapid advances in genome sequencing make it possible to identify multiple disease-related mutations, but there is currently no systematic framework for translating this information into patient-specific predictions of disease progression. As a first step toward addressing this issue, we developed a quantitative, inexpensive, and rapid framework that relies on the early zebrafish embryo to assess mutational effects on a common scale. Using this assay, we assessed 16 mutations reported in MEK1, a MAPK kinase, and provide a robust ranking of these mutations. We find that mutations found in cancer are more severe than those found in both RASopathies and cancer, which, in turn, are generally more severe than those found only in RASopathies. Moreover, this rank is conserved in other zebrafish embryonic assays and Drosophila-specific embryonic and adult assays, suggesting that our ranking reflects the intrinsic property of the mutant molecule. Furthermore, this rank is predictive of the drug dose needed to correct the defects. This assay can be readily used to test the strengths of existing and newly found mutations in MEK1 and other pathway components, providing the first step in the development of rational guidelines for patient-specific diagnostics and treatment of RASopathies.

A quantitative model of developmental RTK signaling.

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) control a wide range of developmental processes, from the first stages of embryogenesis to postnatal growth and neurocognitive development in the adult. A significant share of our knowledge about RTKs comes from genetic screens in model organisms, which provided numerous examples demonstrating how specific cell fates and morphologies are abolished when RTK activation is either abrogated or significantly reduced. Aberrant activation of such pathways has also been recognized in many forms of cancer. More recently, studies of human developmental syndromes established that excessive activation of RTKs and their downstream signaling effectors, most notably the Ras signaling pathway, can also lead to structural and functional defects. Given that both insufficient and excessive pathway activation can lead to abnormalities, mechanistic analysis of developmental RTK signaling must address quantitative questions about its regulation and function. Patterning events controlled by the RTK Torso in the early Drosophila embryo are well-suited for this purpose. This mini review summarizes current state of knowledge about Torso-dependent Ras activation and discusses its potential to serve as a quantitative model for studying the general principles of Ras signaling in development and disease.

Integrative analysis unveils new functions for the Drosophila Cutoff protein in noncoding RNA biogenesis and gene regulation.

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are central components of the piRNA pathway, which directs transposon silencing and guarantees genome integrity in the germ cells of several metazoans. In Drosophila, piRNAs are produced from discrete regions of the genome termed piRNA clusters, whose expression relies on the RDC complex comprised of the core proteins Rhino, Deadlock, and Cutoff. To date, the RDC complex has been exclusively implicated in the regulation of the piRNA loci. Here we further elucidate the function of Cutoff and the RDC complex by performing genome-wide ChIP-seq and RNA-seq assays in the Drosophila ovaries and analyzing these data together with other publicly available data sets. In agreement with previous studies, we confirm that Cutoff is involved in the transcriptional regulation of piRNA clusters and in the repression of transposable elements in germ cells. Surprisingly, however, we find that Cutoff is enriched at and affects the expression of other noncoding RNAs, including spliceosomal RNAs (snRNAs) and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). At least in some instances, Cutoff appears to act at a transcriptional level in concert with Rhino and perhaps Deadlock. Finally, we show that mutations in Cutoff result in the deregulation of hundreds of protein-coding genes in germ cells. Our study uncovers a broader function for the RDC complex in the Drosophila germline development.

Diversity of epithelial morphogenesis during eggshell formation in drosophilids.

The eggshells of drosophilid species provide a powerful model for studying the origins of morphological diversity. The dorsal appendages, or respiratory filaments, of these eggshells display a remarkable interspecies variation in number and shape, and the epithelial patterning underlying the formation of these structures is an area of active research. To extend the analysis of dorsal appendage formation to include morphogenesis, we developed an improved 3D image reconstruction approach. This approach revealed considerable interspecies variation in the cell shape changes and neighbor exchanges underlying appendage formation. Specifically, although the appendage floor in Drosophila melanogaster is formed through spatially ordered neighbor exchanges, the same structure in Scaptodrosophila pattersoni is formed through extreme changes in cell shape, whereas Drosophila funebris appears to display a combination of both cellular mechanisms. Furthermore, localization patterns of Par3/Bazooka suggest a self-organized, cell polarity-based origin for the variability of appendage number in S. pattersoni. Our results suggest that species deploy different combinations of apically and basally driven mechanisms to convert a two-dimensional primordium into a three-dimensional structure, and provide new directions for exploring the molecular origins of interspecies morphological variation.

Signaling through the G-protein-coupled receptor Rickets is important for polarity, detachment, and migration of the border cells in Drosophila.

Cell migration plays crucial roles during development. An excellent model to study coordinated cell movements is provided by the migration of border cell clusters within a developing Drosophila egg chamber. In a mutagenesis screen, we isolated two alleles of the gene rickets (rk) encoding a G-protein-coupled receptor. The rk alleles result in border cell migration defects in a significant fraction of egg chambers. In rk mutants, border cells are properly specified and express the marker Slbo. Yet, analysis of both fixed as well as live samples revealed that some single border cells lag behind the main border cell cluster during migration, or, in other cases, the entire border cell cluster can remain tethered to the anterior epithelium as it migrates. These defects are observed significantly more often in mosaic border cell clusters, than in full mutant clusters. Reduction of the Rk ligand, Bursicon, in the border cell cluster also resulted in migration defects, strongly suggesting that Rk signaling is utilized for communication within the border cell cluster itself. The mutant border cell clusters show defects in localization of the adhesion protein E-cadherin, and apical polarity proteins during migration. E-cadherin mislocalization occurs in mosaic clusters, but not in full mutant clusters, correlating well with the rk border cell migration phenotype. Our work has identified a receptor with a previously unknown role in border cell migration that appears to regulate detachment and polarity of the border cell cluster coordinating processes within the cells of the cluster themselves.

Repression of Gurken translation by a meiotic checkpoint in Drosophila oogenesis is suppressed by a reduction in the dose of eIF1A.

In Drosophila melanogaster, the anteroposterior (AP) and dorsoventral (DV) axes of the oocyte and future embryo are established through the localization and translational regulation of gurken (grk) mRNA. This process involves binding of specific factors to the RNA during transport and a dynamic remodeling of the grk-containing ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes once they have reached their destination within the oocyte. In ovaries of spindle-class females, an activated DNA damage checkpoint causes inefficient Grk translation and ventralization of the oocyte. In a screen for modifiers of the oocyte DV patterning defects, we identified a mutation in the eIF1A gene as a dominant suppressor. We show that reducing the function of eIF1A in spnB ovaries suppresses the ventralized eggshell phenotype by restoring Grk expression. This suppression is not the result of more efficient DNA damage repair or of disrupted checkpoint activation, but is coupled to an increase in the amount of grk mRNA associated with polysomes. In spnB ovaries, the activated meiotic checkpoint blocks Grk translation by disrupting the accumulation of grk mRNA in a translationally competent RNP complex that contains the translational activator Oo18 RNA-binding protein (Orb); this regulation involves the translational repressor Squid (Sqd). We further propose that reduction of eIF1A allows more efficient Grk translation possibly because of the presence of specific structural features in the grk 5'UTR.

Polarized deposition of basement membrane proteins depends on Phosphatidylinositol synthase and the levels of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate.

The basement membrane (BM), a specialized sheet of the extracellular matrix contacting the basal side of epithelial tissues, plays an important role in the control of the polarized structure of epithelial cells. However, little is known about how BM proteins themselves achieve a polarized distribution. Here, we identify phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) as a critical regulator of the polarized secretion of BM proteins. A decrease of PIP2 levels, in particular through mutations in Phosphatidylinositol synthase (Pis) and other members of the phosphoinositide pathway, leads to the aberrant accumulation of BM components at the apical side of the cell without primarily affecting the distribution of apical and basolateral polarity proteins. In addition, PIP2 controls the apical and lateral localization of Crag (Calmodulin-binding protein related to a Rab3 GDP/GTP exchange protein), a factor specifically required to prevent aberrant apical secretion of BM. We propose that PIP2, through the control of Crag's subcellular localization, restricts the secretion of BM proteins to the basal side.

Phantom, a cytochrome P450 enzyme essential for ecdysone biosynthesis, plays a critical role in the control of border cell migration in Drosophila.

The border cells of Drosophila are a model system for coordinated cell migration. Ecdysone signaling has been shown to act as the timing signal to initiate the migration process. Here we find that mutations in phantom (phm), encoding an enzyme in the ecdysone biosynthesis pathway, block border cell migration when the entire follicular epithelium of an egg chamber is mutant, even when the associated germline cells (nurse cells and oocyte) are wild-type. Conversely, mutant germline cells survive and do not affect border cell migration, as long as the surrounding follicle cells are wild-type. Interestingly, even small patches of wild-type follicle cells in a mosaic epithelium are sufficient to allow the production of above-threshold levels of ecdysone to promote border cell migration. The same phenotype is observed with mutations in shade (shd), encoding the last enzyme in the pathway that converts ecdysone to the active 20-hydroxyecdysone. Administration of high 20-hydroxyecdysone titers in the medium can also rescue the border cell migration phenotype in cultured egg chambers with an entirely phm mutant follicular epithelium. These results indicate that in normal oogenesis, the follicle cell epithelium of each individual egg chamber must supply sufficient ecdysone precursors, leading ultimately to high enough levels of mature 20-hydroxyecdysone to the border cells to initiate their migration. Neither the germline, nor the neighboring egg chambers, nor the surrounding hemolymph appear to provide threshold amounts of 20-hydroxyecdysone to do so. This "egg chamber autonomous" ecdysone synthesis constitutes a useful way to regulate the individual maturation of the asynchronous egg chambers present in the Drosophila ovary.

The Cutoff protein regulates piRNA cluster expression and piRNA production in the Drosophila germline.

In a broad range of organisms, Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) have emerged as core components of a surveillance system that protects the genome by silencing transposable and repetitive elements. A vast proportion of piRNAs is produced from discrete genomic loci, termed piRNA clusters, which are generally embedded in heterochromatic regions. The molecular mechanisms and the factors that govern their expression are largely unknown. Here, we show that Cutoff (Cuff), a Drosophila protein related to the yeast transcription termination factor Rai1, is essential for piRNA production in germline tissues. Cuff accumulates at centromeric/pericentromeric positions in germ-cell nuclei and strongly colocalizes with the major heterochromatic domains. Remarkably, we show that Cuff is enriched at the dual-strand piRNA cluster 1/42AB and is likely to be involved in regulation of transcript levels of similar loci dispersed in the genome. Consistent with this observation, Cuff physically interacts with the Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) variant Rhino (Rhi). Our results unveil a link between Cuff activity, heterochromatin assembly and piRNA cluster expression, which is critical for stem-cell and germ-cell development in Drosophila.

CoREST acts as a positive regulator of Notch signaling in the follicle cells of Drosophila melanogaster.

The Notch signaling pathway plays important roles in a variety of developmental events. The context-dependent activities of positive and negative modulators dramatically increase the diversity of cellular responses to Notch signaling. In a screen for mutations affecting the Drosophila melanogaster follicular epithelium, we isolated a mutation in CoREST that disrupts the Notch-dependent mitotic-to-endocycle switch of follicle cells at stage 6 of oogenesis. We show that Drosophila CoREST positively regulates Notch signaling, acting downstream of the proteolytic cleavage of Notch but upstream of Hindsight activity; the Hindsight gene is a Notch target that coordinates responses in the follicle cells. We show that CoREST genetically interacts with components of the Notch repressor complex, Hairless, C-terminal Binding Protein and Groucho. In addition, we demonstrate that levels of H3K27me3 and H4K16 acetylation are dramatically increased in CoREST mutant follicle cells. Our data indicate that CoREST acts as a positive modulator of the Notch pathway in the follicular epithelium as well as in wing tissue, and suggests a previously unidentified role for CoREST in the regulation of Notch signaling. Given its high degree of conservation among species, CoREST probably also functions as a regulator of Notch-dependent cellular events in other organisms.

Modulation of gurken translation by insulin and TOR signaling in Drosophila.

Localized Gurken (Grk) translation specifies the anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral axes of the developing Drosophila oocyte; spindle-class females lay ventralized eggs resulting from inefficient grk translation. This phenotype is thought to result from inhibition of the Vasa RNA helicase. In a screen for modifiers of the eggshell phenotype in spn-B flies, we identified a mutation in the lnk gene. We show that lnk mutations restore Grk expression but do not suppress the persistence of double-strand breaks nor other spn-B phenotypes. This suppression does not affect Egfr directly, but rather overcomes the translational block of grk messages seen in spindle mutants. Lnk was recently identified as a component of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) and TOR pathway. Interestingly, direct inhibition of TOR with rapamycin in spn-B or vas mutant mothers can also suppress the ventralized eggshell phenotype. When dietary protein is inadequate, reduced IIS-TOR activity inhibits cap-dependent translation by promoting the activity of the translation inhibitor eIF4E-binding protein (4EBP). We hypothesize that reduced TOR activity promotes grk translation independent of the canonical Vasa- and cap-dependent mechanism. This model might explain how flies can maintain the translation of developmentally important transcripts during periods of nutrient limitation when bulk cap-dependent translation is repressed.

Drosophila PI4KIIIalpha is required in follicle cells for oocyte polarization and Hippo signaling.

In a genetic screen we isolated mutations in CG10260, which encodes a phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI4KIIIalpha), and found that PI4KIIIalpha is required for Hippo signaling in Drosophila ovarian follicle cells. PI4KIIIalpha mutations in the posterior follicle cells lead to oocyte polarization defects similar to those caused by mutations in the Hippo signaling pathway. PI4KIIIalpha mutations also cause misexpression of well-established Hippo signaling targets. The Merlin-Expanded-Kibra complex is required at the apical membrane for Hippo activity. In PI4KIIIalpha mutant follicle cells, Merlin fails to localize to the apical domain. Our analysis of PI4KIIIalpha mutants provides a new link in Hippo signal transduction from the cell membrane to its core kinase cascade.

Regulation of somatic myosin activity by protein phosphatase 1ß controls Drosophila oocyte polarization.

The Drosophila body axes are established in the oocyte during oogenesis. Oocyte polarization is initiated by Gurken, which signals from the germline through the epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) to the posterior follicle cells (PFCs). In response the PFCs generate an unidentified polarizing signal that regulates oocyte polarity. We have identified a loss-of-function mutation of flapwing, which encodes the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 1ß (PP1ß) that disrupts oocyte polarization. We show that PP1ß, by regulating myosin activity, controls the generation of the polarizing signal. Excessive myosin activity in the PFCs causes oocyte mispolarization and defective Notch signaling and endocytosis in the PFCs. The integrated activation of JAK/STAT and Egfr signaling results in the sensitivity of PFCs to defective Notch. Interestingly, our results also demonstrate a role of PP1ß in generating the polarizing signal independently of Notch, indicating a direct involvement of somatic myosin activity in axis formation.

A novel inhibitor of amyloid ß (Aß) peptide aggregation: from high throughput screening to efficacy in an animal model of Alzheimer disease.

Compelling evidence indicates that aggregation of the amyloid ß (Aß) peptide is a major underlying molecular culprit in Alzheimer disease. Specifically, soluble oligomers of the 42-residue peptide (Aß42) lead to a series of events that cause cellular dysfunction and neuronal death. Therefore, inhibiting Aß42 aggregation may be an effective strategy for the prevention and/or treatment of disease. We describe the implementation of a high throughput screen for inhibitors of Aß42 aggregation on a collection of 65,000 small molecules. Among several novel inhibitors isolated by the screen, compound D737 was most effective in inhibiting Aß42 aggregation and reducing Aß42-induced toxicity in cell culture. The protective activity of D737 was most significant in reducing the toxicity of high molecular weight oligomers of Aß42. The ability of D737 to prevent Aß42 aggregation protects against cellular dysfunction and reduces the production/accumulation of reactive oxygen species. Most importantly, treatment with D737 increases the life span and locomotive ability of flies in a Drosophila melanogaster model of Alzheimer disease.

Stochastic phenotypes in RAS-dependent developmental diseases.

Germline mutations upregulating RAS signaling are associated with multiple developmental disorders. A hallmark of these conditions is that the same mutation may present vastly different phenotypes in different individuals, even in monozygotic twins. Here, we demonstrate how the origins of such largely unexplained phenotypic variations may be dissected using highly controlled studies in Drosophila that have been gene edited to carry activating variants of MEK, a core enzyme in the RAS pathway. This allowed us to measure the small but consistent increase in signaling output of such alleles in vivo. The fraction of mutation carriers reaching adulthood was strongly reduced, but most surviving animals had normal RAS-dependent structures. We rationalize these results using a stochastic signaling model and support it by quantifying cell fate specification errors in bilaterally symmetric larval trachea, a RAS-dependent structure that allows us to isolate the effects of mutations from potential contributions of genetic modifiers and environmental differences. We propose that the small increase in signaling output shifts the distribution of phenotypes into a regime, where stochastic variation causes defects in some individuals, but not in others. Our findings shed light on phenotypic heterogeneity of developmental disorders caused by deregulated RAS signaling and offer a framework for investigating causal effects of other pathogenic alleles and mild mutations in general.

zucchini and squash encode two putative nucleases required for rasiRNA production in the Drosophila germline.

RNAi is a widespread mechanism by which organisms regulate gene expression and defend their genomes against viruses and transposable elements. Here we report the identification of Drosophila zucchini (zuc) and squash (squ), which function in germline RNAi processes. Zuc and Squ contain domains with homologies to nucleases. Mutant females are sterile and show dorsoventral patterning defects during oogenesis. In addition, Oskar protein is ectopically expressed in early oocytes, where it is normally silenced by RNAi mechanisms. Zuc and Squ localize to the perinuclear nuage and interact with Aubergine, a PIWI class protein. Mutations in zuc and squ induce the upregulation of Het-A and Tart, two telomere-specific transposable elements, and the expression of Stellate protein in the Drosophila germline. We show that these defects are due to the inability of zuc and squ mutants to produce repeat-associated small interfering RNAs.

Rabconnectin-3 is a functional regulator of mammalian Notch signaling.

The Notch signaling pathway is important for cell fate decisions in embryonic development and adult life. Defining the functional importance of the Notch pathway in these contexts requires the elucidation of essential signal transduction components that have not been fully characterized. Here, we show that Rabconnectin-3B is required for the Notch pathway in mammalian cells. siRNA-mediated silencing of Rabconnectin-3B in mammalian cells attenuated Notch signaling and disrupted the activation and nuclear accumulation of the Notch target Hes1. Rabconnectin-3B knockdown also disrupted V-ATPase activity in mammalian cells, consistent with previous observations in Drosophila. Pharmacological inhibition of the V-ATPase complex significantly reduced Notch signaling in mammalian cells. Finally, Rabconnectin-3B knockdown phenocopied functional disruption of Notch signaling during osteoclast differentiation. Collectively, these findings define an important role for Rabconnectin-3 and V-ATPase activity in the Notch signaling pathway in mammalian cells.

Quantitative models of developmental pattern formation.

Pattern formation in developing organisms can be regulated at a variety of levels, from gene sequence to anatomy. At this level of complexity, mechanistic models of development become essential for integrating data, guiding future experiments, and predicting the effects of genetic and physical perturbations. However, the formulation and analysis of quantitative models of development are limited by high levels of uncertainty in experimental measurements, a large number of both known and unknown system components, and the multiscale nature of development. At the same time, an expanding arsenal of experimental tools can constrain models and directly test their predictions, making the modeling efforts not only necessary, but feasible. Using a number of problems in fruit fly development, we discuss how models can be used to test the feasibility of proposed patterning mechanisms and characterize their systems-level properties.

Quantifying the Gurken morphogen gradient in Drosophila oogenesis.

Quantitative information about the distribution of morphogens is crucial for understanding their effects on cell-fate determination, yet it is difficult to obtain through direct measurements. We have developed a parameter estimation approach for quantifying the spatial distribution of Gurken, a TGFalpha-like EGFR ligand that acts as a morphogen in Drosophila oogenesis. Modeling of Gurken/EGFR system shows that the shape of the Gurken gradient is controlled by a single dimensionless parameter, the Thiele modulus, which reflects the relative importance of ligand diffusion and degradation. By combining the model with genetic alterations of EGFR levels, we have estimated the value of the Thiele modulus in the wild-type egg chamber. This provides a direct characterization of the shape of the Gurken gradient and demonstrates how parameter estimation techniques can be used to quantify morphogen gradients in development.