title: Programmed cell death and context dependent activation of the EGF pathway regulate gliogenesis in the Drosophila olfactory system.
abstract: In the Drosophila antenna, sensory lineages selected by the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Atonal are gliogenic while those specified by the related protein Amos are not. What are the mechanisms that cause the two lineages to act differentially? We found that ectopic expression of the Baculovirus inhibitor of apoptosis protein (p35) rescues glial cells from the Amos-derived lineages, suggesting that precursors are removed by programmed cell death. In the wildtype, glial precursors express the extracellular-signal regulated kinase transiently, and antagonism of Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) pathway signaling compromises their development. We suggest that all sensory lineages on the antenna are competent to produce glia but only those specified by Atonal respond to EGF signaling and survive. These results underscore the importance of developmental context of cell lineages in their responses to non-autonomous signaling in the choice between survival and death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Rd, Mumbai 400005, India.
authors.forename: Anindya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sen
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kuruvilla
authors.forename: Ludwin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Apurva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarin
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D008024:Ligands; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004815:Epidermal Growth Factor; D008024:Ligands; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C405512:Amos protein, Drosophila; C082142:ato protein, Drosophila