The design and logic of terminal patterning in Drosophila

Celia M. Smits, Stanislav Y. Shvartsman

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Terminal regions of the early Drosophila embryo are patterned by the highly conserved ERK cascade, giving rise to the nonsegmented terminal structures of the future larva. In less than an hour, this signaling event establishes several gene expression boundaries and sets in motion a sequence of elaborate morphogenetic events. Genetic studies of terminal patterning discovered signaling components and transcription factors that are involved in numerous developmental contexts and deregulated in human diseases. This review summarizes current understanding of signaling and morphogenesis during terminal patterning and discusses several open questions that can now be rigorously investigated using live imaging, omics, and optogenetic approaches. The anatomical simplicity of the terminal patterning system and its amenability to a broad range of increasingly sophisticated genetic perturbations will continue to make it a premier quantitative model for studying multiple aspects of tissue patterning by dynamically controlled cell signaling pathways.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationGradients and Tissue Patterning
EditorsStephen Small, James Briscoe
PublisherAcademic Press Inc.
Pages193-217
Number of pages25
ISBN (Print)9780128127902
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Publication series

NameCurrent Topics in Developmental Biology
Volume137
ISSN (Print)0070-2153

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology

Keywords

  • Capicua
  • ERK
  • Morphogenesis
  • Pattern formation
  • Signal transduction

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