title: Essential roles for stat92E in expanding and patterning the proximodistal axis of the Drosophila wing imaginal disc.
abstract: The Drosophila wing imaginal disc is subdivided along the proximodistal axis into the distal pouch, the hinge, the surrounding pleura, and the notum. While the genetic pathways that specify the identity of each of these domains have been well studied, the mechanisms that coordinate the relative expansion of these domains are not well understood. Here we investigated the role of the stat92E signal transducer and activator of transcription in wing proximodistal development. We find that stat92E is active ubiquitously in early wing imaginal discs, where it acts to inhibit the induction of ectopic wing fields. Subsequently, stat92E activity is down regulated in the notum and distal pouch. These dynamics coincide with and contribute to the proportional subdivision and expansion of these primordia. As development proceeds, stat92E activity becomes restricted to the hinge, where it promotes normal expansion of the hinge, and restricts expansion of the notum. We also find that stat92E is required autonomously to specify dorsal pleura identity and inhibit notum identity to properly subdivide the body wall. Our data suggest that stat92E activity is regulated along the proximodistal axis to pattern this axis and control the relative expansion of the pouch, hinge, and notum.
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy & Cellular Biology, Program in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology, 150 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA. victor.hatini@tufts.edu
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hatini
authors.forename: Ela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kula-Eversole
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nusinow
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Del Signore
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D060227:Imaginal Discs / Q000196:embryology*; D053613:Janus Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009154:Mutation; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; C105675:Stat92E protein, Drosophila; D014157:Transcription Factors; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D053613:Janus Kinase 1