title: Balancing crosstalk between 20-hydroxyecdysone-induced autophagy and caspase activity in the fat body during Drosophila larval-prepupal transition.
abstract: In the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, autophagy and caspase activity function in parallel in the salivary gland during metamorphosis and in a common regulatory hierarchy during oogenesis. Both autophagy and caspase activity progressively increase in the remodeling fat body, and they are induced by a pulse of the molting hormone (20-hydroxyecdysone, 20E) during the larval-prepupal transition. Inhibition of autophagy and/or caspase activity in the remodeling fat body results in 25-40% pupal lethality, depending on the genotypes. Interestingly, a balancing crosstalk occurs between autophagy and caspase activity in this tissue: the inhibition of autophagy induces caspase activity and the inhibition of caspases induces autophagy. The Drosophila remodeling fat body provides an in vivo model for understanding the molecular mechanism of the balancing crosstalk between autophagy and caspase activity, which oppose with each other and are induced by the common stimulus 20E, and blockage of either path reinforces the other path.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Hanhan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qiangqiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tettamanti
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D020169:Caspases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004441:Ecdysterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D005216:Fat Body / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007814:Larva / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D011679:Pupa / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004441:Ecdysterone; D020169:Caspases; C109171:drICE protein, Drosophila
keywords: 20-Hydroxyecdysone; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Drosophila melanogaster; Fat body