title: The role of Dichaete in transcriptional regulation during Drosophila embryonic development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Group B Sox domain transcription factors play conserved roles in the specification and development of the nervous system in higher metazoans. However, we know comparatively little about how these transcription factors regulate gene expression, and the analysis of Sox gene function in vertebrates is confounded by functional compensation between three closely related family members. In Drosophila, only two group B Sox genes, Dichaete and SoxN, have been shown to function during embryonic CNS development, providing a simpler system for understanding the functions of this important class of regulators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using a combination of transcriptional profiling and genome-wide binding analysis we conservatively identify over 1000 high confidence direct Dichaete target genes in the Drosophila genome. We show that Dichaete plays key roles in CNS development, regulating aspects of the temporal transcription factor sequence that confer neuroblast identity. Dichaete also shows a complex interaction with Prospero in the pathway controlling the switch from stem cell self-renewal to neural differentiation. Dichaete potentially regulates many more genes in the Drosophila genome and was found to be associated with over 2000 mapped regulatory elements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our analysis suggests that Dichaete acts as a transcriptional hub, controlling multiple regulatory pathways during CNS development. These include a set of core CNS expressed genes that are also bound by the related Sox2 gene during mammalian CNS development. Furthermore, we identify Dichaete as one of the transcription factors involved in the neural stem cell transcriptional network, with evidence supporting the view that Dichaete is involved in controlling the temporal series of divisions regulating neuroblast identity.
authors: Jelena
authors: J
authors: Aleksic
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Ferrero
authors: Bettina
authors: B
authors: Fischer
authors: Shih Pei
authors: SP
authors: Shen
authors: Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. s.russell@gen.cam.ac.uk.
authors: Steven
authors: S
authors: Russell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D009154:Mutation; D054258:Neural Plate / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D056510:Position-Specific Scoring Matrices; D011485:Protein Binding; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: C103073:D protein, Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors