Lozenge is expressed in pluripotent precursor cells and patterns multiple cell types in the Drosophila eye through the control of cell-specific transcription factors.
In the developing Drosophila eye, individual cell fates are specified when general signaling mechanisms are interpreted in the context of cell-specific transcription factors. Lozenge, a Runt/AML1/CBFA1-like transcription factor, determines the fates of a number of neuronal and non-neuronal cells by regulating the expression of multiple fate-determining transcription factors. The Lozenge protein is expressed in the nuclei of the cells that it patterns and also in their undifferentiated precursors. An enhancer element located within the second intron of the lozenge gene is responsible for its eye-specific expression. Lozenge is not itself a cell-specific transcription factor, rather it prepatterns the eye disc by positioning cell-specific factors in their appropriate locations.
Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Flores
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Daga
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Kalhor
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Banerjee
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000254:growth & development*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005123:Eye / Q000254:growth & development*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007438:Introns; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C099964:lz protein, Drosophila