Kinetics of morphogen gradient formation.
In the developing fly wing, secreted morphogens such as Decapentaplegic (Dpp) and Wingless (Wg) form gradients of concentration providing positional information. Dpp forms a longer-range gradient than Wg. To understand how the range is controlled, we measured the four key kinetic parameters governing morphogen spreading: the production rate, the effective diffusion coefficient, the degradation rate, and the immobile fraction. The four parameters had different values for Dpp versus Wg. In addition, Dynamin-dependent endocytosis was required for spreading of Dpp, but not Wg. Thus, the cellular mechanisms of Dpp and Wingless spreading are different: Dpp spreading requires endocytic, intracellular trafficking.
Kicheva
Anna
A
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauer Strasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
Pantazis
Periklis
P
Bollenbach
Tobias
T
Kalaidzidis
Yannis
Y
Bittig
Thomas
T
Jülicher
Frank
F
González-Gaitán
Marcos
M
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D004058:Diffusion; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D004705:Endocytosis; D036681:Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D051155:Wnt1 Protein
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; C064196:dpp protein, Drosophila; C074622:wg protein, Drosophila