Regulation of a serine protease homolog by the JNK pathway during thoracic development of Drosophila melanogaster.
The importance of the Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) pathway during normal development and tumor invasion has been well documented in Drosophila. Here, this pathway plays important roles in epithelial morphogenesis, wound healing, apoptosis, immunity and regulation of lifespan. However, which downstream molecules facilitate these effects is not very well elucidated. In this study, data are presented on a serine protease homolog (SPH), scarface. These data show that scarface is under regulatory control of the JNK pathway and that this pathway is both necessary and sufficient for its expression within the context of thoracic development. Consequently, down-regulation of scarface results in a thoracic-cleft phenotype that phenocopies the JNK pathway defect. A possible role of scarface during thoracic development in Drosophila is discussed.
Department of Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA ; Department of Biology and Biotechnology Center, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Boulevard, TCCW 351, Bowling Green, KY 42101, USA.
Ajay
A
Srivastava
Department of Biology and Biotechnology Center, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Boulevard, TCCW 351, Bowling Green, KY 42101, USA.
Qian
Q
Dong
DPP, Decapentaplegic; Drosophila; Imaginal disc; JNK pathway; JNK, Jun N-terminal Kinase; SPH, serine protease homolog; Scarface; Serine protease homolog; Thorax closure; UAS, Upstream Activation Sequence