title: NF-Y in invertebrates.
abstract: Both Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are useful model organisms to study in vivo roles of NF-Y during development. Drosophila NF-Y (dNF-Y) consists of three subunits dNF-YA, dNF-YB and dNF-YC. In some tissues, dNF-YC-related protein Mes4 may replace dNF-YC in dNF-Y complex. Studies with eye imaginal disc-specific dNF-Y-knockdown flies revealed that dNF-Y positively regulates the sevenless gene encoding a receptor tyrosine kinase, a component of the ERK pathway and negatively regulates the Sensless gene encoding a transcription factor to ensure proper development of R7 photoreceptor cells together with proper R7 axon targeting. dNF-Y also controls the Drosophila Bcl-2 (debcl) to regulate apoptosis. In thorax development, dNF-Y is necessary for both proper Drosophila JNK (basket) expression and JNK signaling activity that is responsible for thorax development. Drosophila p53 gene was also identified as one of the dNF-Y target genes in this system. C. elegans contains two forms of NF-YA subunit, CeNF-YA1 and CeNF-YA2. C. elegans NF-Y (CeNF-Y) therefore consists of CeNF-YB, CeNF-YC and either CeNF-YA1 or CeNF-YA2. CeNF-Y negatively regulates expression of the Hox gene egl-5 (ortholog of Drosophila Abdominal-B) that is involved in tail patterning. CeNF-Y also negatively regulates expression of the tbx-2 gene that is essential for development of the pharyngeal muscles, specification of neural cell fate and adaptation in olfactory neurons. Negative regulation of the expression of egl-5 and tbx-2 by CeNF-Y provides new insight into the physiological meaning of negative regulation of gene expression by NF-Y during development. In addition, studies on NF-Y in platyhelminths are also summarized. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nuclear Factor Y in Development and Disease, edited by Prof. Roberto Mantovani.
authors: Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; The Center for Advanced Insect Research, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan. Electronic address: myamaguc@kit.ac.jp.
authors: Masamitsu
authors: M
authors: Yamaguchi
authors: Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
authors: Md Saheb
authors: MS
authors: Ali
authors: Faculty of Science and Engineering, Setsunan University, Japan.
authors: Yasuhide
authors: Y
authors: Yoshioka
authors: Department of Physiology, Hanoi Medical University, Viet Nam.
authors: Luong Linh
authors: LL
authors: Ly
authors: Department of Applied Biology, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan; The Center for Advanced Insect Research, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins
keywords: C. elegans; Development; Drosophila; NF-Y; Signal transduction