A Tumor-Specific Molecular Network Promotes Tumor Growth in by Enforcing a Jun N-Terminal Kinase-Yorkie Feedforward Loop.

Cancer cells expand rapidly in response to altered intercellular and signaling interactions to achieve the hallmarks of cancer. Impaired cell polarity combined with activated oncogenes is known to promote several hallmarks of cancer, e.g.

A Tumour-Specific Molecular Network Promotes Tumour Growth in by Enforcing a JNK-YKI Feedforward Loop.

Cancer cells expand rapidly in response to altered intercellular and signalling interactions to achieve hallmarks of cancer. Impaired cell polarity combined with activated oncogenes is known to promote several hallmarks of cancer e.g.

The matricellular protein Drosophila Cellular Communication Network Factor is required for synaptic transmission and female fertility.

Within the extracellular matrix, matricellular proteins are dynamically expressed nonstructural proteins that interact with cell surface receptors, growth factors, and proteases, as well as with structural matrix proteins. The cellular communication network factors family of matricellular proteins serve regulatory roles to regulate cell function and are defined by their conserved multimodular organization. Here, we characterize the expression and neuronal requirement for the Drosophila cellular communication network factor family member.

Regulation of Wnt distribution and function by Drosophila glypicans.

The extracellular distribution of secreted Wnt proteins is crucial for their ability to induce a response in target cells at short and long ranges to ensure proper development. Wnt proteins are evolutionarily conserved ligands that are lipid-modified, and their hydrophobic nature interferes with their solubility in the hydrophilic extracellular environment. This raises the question of how Wnt proteins spread extracellularly despite their lipid modifications, which are essential for both their secretion and function.

Glypicans and cytonemes unite to distribute Wnt ligands.

Hu et al. (2021. J.

Extracellular spreading of Wingless is required for Drosophila oogenesis.

Recent studies have investigated whether the Wnt family of extracellular ligands can signal at long range, spreading from their source and acting as morphogens, or whether they signal only in a juxtacrine manner to neighboring cells. The original evidence for long-range Wnt signaling arose from studies of Wg, a Drosophila Wnt protein, which patterns the wing disc over several cell diameters from a central source of Wg ligand. However, the requirement of long-range Wg for patterning was called into question when it was reported that replacing the secreted protein Wg with a membrane-tethered version, NRT-Wg, results in flies with normally patterned wings.

Dally-like protein sequesters multiple Wnt ligands in the Drosophila germarium.

Cells in multicellular organisms rely on secreted ligands for development and morphogenesis. Several mechanisms modulate the availability and distribution of secreted ligands, determining their ability to signal locally and at long range from their source. One of these mechanisms is Dally-like protein (Dlp), a cell-surface glypican that exhibits biphasic functions in Drosophila wing discs, promoting Wg signaling at long-range from Wg source cells and inhibiting Wg signaling near source cells.

Wnt Signaling in Stem Cell Maintenance and Differentiation in the Drosophila Germarium.

Wnt signaling is a conserved regulator of stem cell behaviors, and the germarium has been an important model tissue for the study of stem cell maintenance, differentiation, and proliferation. Here we review Wnt signaling in the germarium, which houses two distinct types of ovarian stem cells: the anteriorly located germline stem cells (GSCs), which give rise to oocytes; and the mid-posteriorly located follicle stem cells (FSCs), which give rise to the somatic follicle cells that cover a developing oocyte. The maintenance and proliferation of GSCs and FSCs is regulated by the stem cell niches, whereas differentiation of the germline is regulated by the differentiation niche.

FOXD1-ALDH1A3 Signaling Is a Determinant for the Self-Renewal and Tumorigenicity of Mesenchymal Glioma Stem Cells.

Glioma stem-like cells (GSC) with tumor-initiating activity orchestrate the cellular hierarchy in glioblastoma and engender therapeutic resistance. Recent work has divided GSC into two subtypes with a mesenchymal (MES) GSC population as the more malignant subtype. In this study, we identify the FOXD1-ALDH1A3 signaling axis as a determinant of the MES GSC phenotype.

Loss of Cell Adhesion Increases Tumorigenic Potential of Polarity Deficient Scribble Mutant Cells.

Epithelial polarity genes are important for maintaining tissue architecture, and regulating growth. The Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressor gene scribble (scrib) belongs to the basolateral polarity complex. Loss of scrib results in disruption of its growth regulatory functions, and downregulation or mislocalization of Scrib is correlated to tumor growth.

Drosophila C-terminal Src kinase regulates growth via the Hippo signaling pathway.

The Hippo signaling pathway is involved in regulating tissue size by inhibiting cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis. Aberrant Hippo pathway function is often detected in human cancers and correlates with poor prognosis. The Drosophila C-terminal Src kinase (d-Csk) is a genetic modifier of warts (wts), a tumor-suppressor gene in the Hippo pathway, and interacts with the Src oncogene.

Intercellular cooperation and competition in brain cancers: lessons from Drosophila and human studies.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a primary brain cancer with an extremely poor prognosis. GBM tumors contain heterogeneous cellular components, including a small subpopulation of tumor cells termed glioma stem cells (GSCs). GSCs are characterized as chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-resistant cells with prominent tumorigenic ability.

Scribble acts in the Drosophila fat-hippo pathway to regulate warts activity.

Epithelial cells are the major cell-type for all organs in multicellular organisms. In order to achieve correct organ size, epithelial tissues need mechanisms that limit their proliferation, and protect tissues from damage caused by defective epithelial cells. Recently, the Hippo signaling pathway has emerged as a major mechanism that orchestrates epithelial development.