CtBP impedes JNK- and Upd/STAT-driven cell fate misspecifications in regenerating imaginal discs.

Regeneration following tissue damage often necessitates a mechanism for cellular re-programming, so that surviving cells can give rise to all cell types originally found in the damaged tissue. This process, if unchecked, can also generate cell types that are inappropriate for a given location. We conducted a screen for genes that negatively regulate the frequency of notum-to-wing transformations following genetic ablation and regeneration of the wing pouch, from which we identified mutations in the transcriptional co-repressor When CtBP function is reduced, ablation of the pouch can activate the JNK/AP-1 and JAK/STAT pathways in the notum to destabilize cell fates.