title: Requirement for chitin biosynthesis in epithelial tube morphogenesis.
abstract: Many organs are composed of branched networks of epithelial tubes that transport vital fluids or gases. The proper size and shape of tubes are crucial for their transport function, but the molecular processes that govern tube size and shape are not well understood. Here we show that three genes required for tracheal tube morphogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster encode proteins involved in the synthesis and accumulation of chitin, a polymer of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamine that serves as a scaffold in the rigid extracellular matrix of insect cuticle. In all three mutants, developing tracheal tubes bud and extend normally, but the epithelial walls of the tubes do not expand uniformly, and the resultant tubes are grossly misshapen, with constricted and distended regions all along their lengths. The genes are expressed in tracheal cells during the expansion process, and chitin accumulates in the lumen of tubes, forming an expanding cylinder that we propose coordinates the behavior of the surrounding tracheal cells and stabilizes the expanding epithelium. These findings show that chitin regulates epithelial tube morphogenesis, in addition to its classical role protecting mature epithelia.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5307, USA.
authors.forename: W Patrick
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Devine
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lubarsky
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luschnig
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Krasnow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002686:Chitin / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D002687:Chitin Synthase / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004848:Epithelium / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C506753:knk protein, Drosophila; D002686:Chitin; D002687:Chitin Synthase; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; C023226:UDPacetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase