title: MicroRNA-9a ensures the precise specification of sensory organ precursors in Drosophila.
abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in regulating various aspects of animal development, but their functions in neurogenesis are largely unknown. Here we report that loss of miR-9a function in the Drosophila peripheral nervous system leads to ectopic production of sensory organ precursors (SOPs), whereas overexpression of miR-9a results in a severe loss of SOPs. We further demonstrate a strong genetic interaction between miR-9a and senseless (sens) in controlling the formation of SOPs in the adult wing imaginal disc. Moreover, miR-9a suppresses Sens expression through its 3' untranslated region. miR-9a is expressed in epithelial cells, including those adjacent to SOPs within proneural clusters, suggesting that miR-9a normally inhibits neuronal fate in non-SOP cells by down-regulating Sens expression. These results indicate that miR-9a ensures the generation of the precise number of neuronal precursor cells during development.
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Department of Neurology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Fay
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jin-A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Fen-Biao
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001483:Base Sequence; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D035683:MicroRNAs; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000196:embryology
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D035683:MicroRNAs