Prickle is phosphorylated by Nemo and targeted for degradation to maintain Prickle/Spiny-legs isoform balance during planar cell polarity establishment.

Planar cell polarity (PCP) instructs tissue patterning in a wide range of organisms from fruit flies to humans. PCP signaling coordinates cell behavior across tissues and is integrated by cells to couple cell fate identity with position in a developing tissue. In the fly eye, PCP signaling is required for the specification of R3 and R4 photoreceptors based upon their positioning relative to the dorso-ventral axis.

The Drosophila selectin furrowed mediates intercellular planar cell polarity interactions via frizzled stabilization.

Establishment of planar cell polarity (PCP) in a tissue requires coordination of directional signals from cell to cell. It is thought that this is mediated by the core PCP factors, which include cell-adhesion molecules. Here, we demonstrate that furrowed, the Drosophila selectin, is required for PCP generation.

Implementation of a two-specimen requirement for verification of ABO/Rh for blood transfusion.

Background: This study presents our implementation of a two-specimen requirement with no prior record of ABO/Rh to verify patients' blood type before transfusion.

Materials And Methods: Blood type verification was introduced, discussed, approved, and implemented over a 12-month period (May 2007 to May 2008). Potential barriers and impact on benchmark indicators were identified and tracked.

Impairment of ubiquitylation by mutation in Drosophila E1 promotes both cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous Ras-ERK activation in vivo.

Ras signaling can promote proliferation, cell survival and differentiation. Mutations in components of the Ras pathway are found in many solid tumors and are associated with developmental disorders. We demonstrate here that Drosophila tissues containing hypomorphic mutations in E1, the most upstream enzyme in the ubiquitin pathway, display cell-autonomous upregulation of Ras-ERK activity and Ras-dependent ectopic proliferation.