Two forkhead transcription factors regulate the division of cardiac progenitor cells by a Polo-dependent pathway.
The development of a complex organ requires the specification of appropriate numbers of each of its constituent cell types, as well as their proper differentiation and correct positioning relative to each other. During Drosophila cardiogenesis, all three of these processes are controlled by jumeau (jumu) and Checkpoint suppressor homologue (CHES-1-like), two genes encoding forkhead transcription factors that we discovered utilizing an integrated genetic, genomic, and computational strategy for identifying genes expressed in the developing Drosophila heart. Both jumu and CHES-1-like are required during asymmetric cell division for the derivation of two distinct cardiac cell types from their mutual precursor and in symmetric cell divisions that produce yet a third type of heart cell. jumu and CHES-1-like control the division of cardiac progenitors by regulating the activity of Polo, a kinase involved in multiple steps of mitosis. This pathway demonstrates how transcription factors integrate diverse developmental processes during organogenesis.
Laboratory of Developmental Systems Biology, Genetics and Developmental Biology Center, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Shaad M
SM
Ahmad
Terese R
TR
Tansey
Brian W
BW
Busser
Michael T
MT
Nolte
Neal
N
Jeffries
Stephen S
SS
Gisselbrecht
Nasser M
NM
Rusan
Alan M
AM
Michelson
D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D008938:Mitosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
C575451:CHES-1-like protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C412163:jumu protein, Drosophila; C072004:polo protein, Drosophila; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases