title: Dynamics of Inductive ERK Signaling in the Drosophila Embryo.
abstract: Transient activation of the highly conserved extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) establishes precise patterns of cell fates in developing tissues. Quantitative parameters of these transients are essentially unknown, but a growing number of studies suggest that changes in these parameters can lead to a broad spectrum of developmental abnormalities. We provide a detailed quantitative picture of an ERK-dependent inductive signaling event in the early Drosophila embryo, an experimental system that offers unique opportunities for high-throughput studies of developmental signaling. Our analysis reveals a spatiotemporal pulse of ERK activation that is consistent with a model in which transient production of a short-ranged ligand feeds into a simple signal interpretation system. The pulse of ERK signaling acts as a switch in controlling the expression of the ERK target gene. The quantitative approach that led to this model, based on the integration of data from fixed embryos and live imaging, can be extended to other developmental systems patterned by transient inductive signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Bomyi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Carmeline J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Dsilva
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Levario
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Trudi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schüpbach
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: Ioannis G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Kevrekidis
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA; Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Electronic address: stas@princeton.edu.
authors.forename: Stanislav Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Shvartsman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019898:Autocrine Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007700:Kinetics; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008954:Models, Biological; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D066246:ErbB Receptors