title: Senseless acts as a binary switch during sensory organ precursor selection.
abstract: During sensory organ precursor (SOP) specification, a single cell is selected from a proneural cluster of cells. Here, we present evidence that Senseless (Sens), a zinc-finger transcription factor, plays an important role in this process. We show that Sens is directly activated by proneural proteins in the presumptive SOPs and a few cells surrounding the SOP in most tissues. In the cells that express low levels of Sens, it acts in a DNA-binding-dependent manner to repress transcription of proneural genes. In the presumptive SOPs that express high levels of Sens, it acts as a transcriptional activator and synergizes with proneural proteins. We therefore propose that Sens acts as a binary switch that is fundamental to SOP selection.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jafar-Nejad
authors.forename: Melih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nolo
authors.forename: Haluk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lacin
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Parkhurst
authors.forename: Hugo J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bellen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C084530:E(spl)mdelta-HLH protein, Drosophila; C413162:sens protein, Drosophila