title: Morphogen control of wing growth through the Fat signaling pathway.
abstract: Organ growth is influenced by organ patterning, but the molecular mechanisms that link patterning to growth have remained unclear. We show that the Dpp morphogen gradient in the Drosophila wing influences growth by modulating the activity of the Fat signaling pathway. Dpp signaling regulates the expression and localization of Fat pathway components, and Fat signaling through Dachs is required for the effect of the Dpp gradient on cell proliferation. Juxtaposition of cells that express different levels of the Fat pathway regulators four-jointed and dachsous stimulates expression of Fat/Hippo pathway target genes and cell proliferation, consistent with the hypothesis that the graded expression of these genes contributes to wing growth. Moreover, uniform expression of four-jointed and dachsous in the wing inhibits cell proliferation. These observations identify Fat as a signaling pathway that links the morphogen-mediated establishment of gradients of positional values across developing organs to the regulation of organ growth.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Waksman Institute and Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rogulja
authors.forename: Cordelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rauskolb
authors.forename: Kenneth D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Irvine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016764:Cell Polarity; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002999:Clone Cells; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008954:Models, Biological; D021381:Protein Transport; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C064196:dpp protein, Drosophila; C472307:ft protein, Drosophila; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine