title: Onset of atonal expression in Drosophila retinal progenitors involves redundant and synergistic contributions of Ey/Pax6 and So binding sites within two distant enhancers.
abstract: Proneural transcription factors drive the generation of specialized neurons during nervous system development, and their dynamic expression pattern is critical to their function. The activation of the proneural gene atonal (ato) in the Drosophila eye disc epithelium represents a critical step in the transition from retinal progenitor cell to developing photoreceptor neuron. We show here that the onset of ato transcription depends on two distant enhancers that function differently in subsets of retinal progenitor cells. A detailed analysis of the crosstalk between these enhancers identifies a critical role for three binding sites for the Retinal Determination factors Eyeless (Ey) and Sine oculis (So). We show how these sites interact to induce ato expression in distinct regions of the eye field and confirm them to be occupied by endogenous Ey and So proteins in vivo. Our study suggests that Ey and So operate differently through the same 3' cis-regulatory sites in distinct populations of retinal progenitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research, and SUNY Eye Institute, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Qingxiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research, and SUNY Eye Institute, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Tianyi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, Chicago University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jemc
authors.affiliation: Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Yiyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, Chicago University, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rebay
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Center for Vision Research, and SUNY Eye Institute, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Department of Neuroscience & Physiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA. Electronic address: pignonif@upstate.edu.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pignoni
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D001665:Binding Sites; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005136:Eye Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D000071841:PAX6 Transcription Factor; D051761:Paired Box Transcription Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C000605730:PAX6 protein, human; C087345:So protein, Drosophila; C082142:ato protein, Drosophila; C113278:ey protein, Drosophila
keywords: Atoh7; Eye specification; Math5; Neurogenesis; Proneural factor