RESUMO
The evolutionarily conserved JNK/AP-1 (Jun N-terminal kinase/activator protein 1) and BMP (Bone Morphogenetic Protein) signaling cascades are deployed hierarchically to regulate dorsal closure in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In this developmental context, the JNK/AP-1 signaling cascade transcriptionally activates BMP signaling in leading edge epidermal cells. Here we show that the mummy (mmy) gene product, which is required for dorsal closure, functions as a BMP signaling antagonist. Genetic and biochemical tests of Mmy's role as a BMP-antagonist indicate that its function is independent of AP-1, the transcriptional trigger of BMP signal transduction in leading edge cells. pMAD (phosphorylated Mothers Against Dpp) activity data show the mmy gene product to be a new type of epidermal BMP regulator - one which transforms a BMP ligand from a long- to a short-range signal. mmy codes for the single UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase in Drosophila, and its requirement for attenuating epidermal BMP signaling during dorsal closure points to a new role for glycosylation in defining a highly restricted BMP activity field in the fly. These findings add a new dimension to our understanding of mechanisms modulating the BMP signaling gradient.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Drosophila/metabolismo , Drosophila melanogaster/enzimologia , Regulação da Expressão Gênica no Desenvolvimento , Nucleotidiltransferases/metabolismo , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Animais , Proteínas Morfogenéticas Ósseas/genética , Proteínas Morfogenéticas Ósseas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Drosophila/genética , Drosophila melanogaster/embriologia , Drosophila melanogaster/genética , Embrião não Mamífero/metabolismo , Desenvolvimento Embrionário , Ativação Enzimática , Epiderme/metabolismo , Epiderme/patologia , Glicosilação , Sistema de Sinalização das MAP Quinases , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Nucleotidiltransferases/genética , Organismos Geneticamente Modificados/embriologia , Organismos Geneticamente Modificados/genética , Organismos Geneticamente Modificados/metabolismo , Estrutura Terciária de Proteína , Fatores de Tempo , Fator de Transcrição AP-1/genética , Fator de Transcrição AP-1/metabolismoRESUMO
High baselines of transcription factor activities represent fundamental obstacles to regulated signaling. Here we show that in Drosophila, quenching of basal activator protein 1 (AP-1) transcription factor activity serves as a prerequisite to its tight spatial and temporal control by the JNK (Jun N-terminal kinase) signaling cascade. Our studies indicate that the novel raw gene product is required to limit AP-1 activity to leading edge epidermal cells during embryonic dorsal closure. In addition, we provide the first evidence that the epidermis has a Basket JNK-independent capacity to activate AP-1 targets and that raw function is required broadly throughout the epidermis to antagonize this activity. Finally, our mechanistic studies of the three dorsal-open group genes [raw, ribbon (rib), and puckered (puc)] indicate that these gene products provide at least two tiers of JNK/AP-1 regulation. In addition to Puckered phosphatase function in leading edge epidermal cells as a negative-feedback regulator of JNK signaling, the three dorsal-open group gene products (Raw, Ribbon, and Puckered) are required more broadly in the dorsolateral epidermis to quench a basal, signaling-independent activity of the AP-1 transcription factor.
