The transcription factor Ets21C drives tumor growth by cooperating with AP-1.

Tumorigenesis is driven by genetic alterations that perturb the signaling networks regulating proliferation or cell death. In order to block tumor growth, one has to precisely know how these signaling pathways function and interplay. Here, we identified the transcription factor Ets21C as a pivotal regulator of tumor growth and propose a new model of how Ets21C could affect this process.

Cell-sorting at the A/P boundary in the Drosophila wing primordium: a computational model to consolidate observed non-local effects of Hh signaling.

Non-intermingling, adjacent populations of cells define compartment boundaries; such boundaries are often essential for the positioning and the maintenance of tissue-organizers during growth. In the developing wing primordium of Drosophila melanogaster, signaling by the secreted protein Hedgehog (Hh) is required for compartment boundary maintenance. However, the precise mechanism of Hh input remains poorly understood.

Boundaries of Dachsous Cadherin activity modulate the Hippo signaling pathway to induce cell proliferation.

The conserved Hippo tumor suppressor pathway is a key signaling pathway that controls organ size in Drosophila. To date a signal transduction cascade from the Cadherin Fat at the plasma membrane into the nucleus has been discovered. However, how the Hippo pathway is regulated by extracellular signals is poorly understood.

The fat cadherin acts through the hippo tumor-suppressor pathway to regulate tissue size.

Background: The Hippo tumor-suppressor pathway has emerged as a key signaling pathway that controls tissue size in Drosophila. Merlin, the Drosophila homolog of the human Neurofibromatosis type-2 (NF2) tumor-suppressor gene, and the related protein Expanded are the most upstream components of the Hippo pathway identified so far. However, components acting upstream of Expanded and Merlin, such as transmembrane receptors, have not yet been identified.

The tumour-suppressor genes NF2/Merlin and Expanded act through Hippo signalling to regulate cell proliferation and apoptosis.

Merlin, the protein product of the Neurofibromatosis type-2 gene, acts as a tumour suppressor in mice and humans. Merlin is an adaptor protein with a FERM domain and it is thought to transduce a growth-regulatory signal. However, the pathway through which Merlin acts as a tumour suppressor is poorly understood.