A low affinity cis-regulatory BMP response element restricts target gene activation to subsets of Drosophila neurons.
Elife
; 92020 10 30.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33124981
ABSTRACT
Retrograde BMP signaling and canonical pMad/Medea-mediated transcription regulate diverse target genes across subsets of Drosophila efferent neurons, to differentiate neuropeptidergic neurons and promote motor neuron terminal maturation. How a common BMP signal regulates diverse target genes across many neuronal subsets remains largely unresolved, although available evidence implicates subset-specific transcription factor codes rather than differences in BMP signaling. Here we examine the cis-regulatory mechanisms restricting BMP-induced FMRFa neuropeptide expression to Tv4-neurons. We find that pMad/Medea bind at an atypical, low affinity motif in the FMRFa enhancer. Converting this motif to high affinity caused ectopic enhancer activity and eliminated Tv4-neuron expression. In silico searches identified additional motif instances functional in other efferent neurons, implicating broader functions for this motif in BMP-dependent enhancer activity. Thus, differential interpretation of a common BMP signal, conferred by low affinity pMad/Medea binding motifs, can contribute to the specification of BMP target genes in efferent neuron subsets.
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MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Proteínas Morfogenéticas Ósseas
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Elementos de Resposta
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Drosophila melanogaster
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Neurônios
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article