title: Growth control in theDrosophilaeye disc by the cytokine Unpaired.
abstract: A fundamental question in developmental biology is how organ size is controlled. We have previously shown that the area growth rate in theDrosophilaeye primordium declines inversely proportionally to the increase in its area. How the observed reduction in the growth rate is achieved is unknown. Here, we explore the dilution of the cytokine Unpaired (Upd) as a possible candidate mechanism. In the developing eye,updexpression is transient, ceasing at the time when the morphogenetic furrow first emerges. We confirm experimentally that the diffusion and stability of the JAK/STAT ligand Upd are sufficient to control eye disc growth via a dilution mechanism. We further show that sequestration of Upd by ectopic expression of an inactive form of the receptor Domeless (Dome) results in a substantially lower growth rate, but the area growth rate still declines inversely proportionally to the area increase. This growth rate-to-area relationship is no longer observed when Upd dilution is prevented by the continuous, ectopic expression of Upd. We conclude that a mechanism based on the dilution of the growth modulator Upd can explain how growth termination is controlled in the eye disc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jannik
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vollmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aguilar-Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Máximo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Aragón
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iannini
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville 41013, Spain fcasfer@upo.es dagmar.iber@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casares
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland fcasfer@upo.es dagmar.iber@bsse.ethz.ch.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8051-1035
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005123:Eye / Q000254:growth & development*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D007700:Kinetics; D009154:Mutation; D017956:Photoreceptor Cells, Invertebrate / Q000502:physiology*; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C115570:upd1 protein, Drosophila
keywords: Dilution; Eye disc development; Growth control; Upd