The Drosophila TGF-alpha-like protein Gurken: expression and cellular localization during Drosophila oogenesis.
The establishment of anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral polarity of the Drosophila egg and embryo depends on the function of the genes gurken, cornichon and Egfr (Drosophila epidermal growth factor receptor homolog). These genes encode components of a signal transduction pathway that transmits information between the germline cells and the somatic follicle cells of the ovary. gurken encodes a transforming growth factor-alpha-like protein and is a putative germline ligand of the Egfr present on the follicle cells. In mid-oogenesis the gurken transcript becomes spatially localized to the future dorsal-anterior cortex of the oocyte. To analyze the distribution pattern of Gurken protein we prepared antibodies against Gurken. We describe here the distribution pattern of the Gurken protein in wild-type ovaries and in ovaries from a number of dorsal-ventral patterning mutants. By immunoblotting we detect one major form of the Gurken protein, which likely corresponds to the unprocessed protein.
Neuman-Silberberg
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HHMI, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, NJ 08544, USA.
Schüpbach
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D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005260:Female; D018773:Genes, erbB-1 / Q000235:genetics; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009866:Oogenesis; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha / Q000737:chemistry*; D015291:Transforming Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
D000906:Antibodies; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; C083730:grk protein, Drosophila; D015291:Transforming Growth Factors