Non-canonical roles for Yorkie and Drosophila Inhibitor of Apoptosis 1 in epithelial tube size control.

Precise control of epithelial tube size is critical for organ function, yet the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we examine the roles of cell growth and a highly conserved organ growth regulatory pathway in controlling the dimensions of the Drosophila tracheal (airway) system, a well-characterized system for investigating epithelial tube morphogenesis. We find that tracheal tube-size is regulated in unexpected ways by the transcription factor Yorkie (Yki, homolog of mammalian YAP and TAZ) and the Salvador/Warts/Hippo (SWH) kinase pathway.

Vascular lumen formation: negativity will tear us apart.

Functional blood vessels are essential for vertebrate development, but how endothelial cells initiate lumen formation during vasculogenesis is not known. A new study now reveals that electrostatic repulsion is key.

A matrix metalloproteinase mediates airway remodeling in Drosophila.

Organ size typically increases dramatically during juvenile growth. This growth presents a fundamental tension, as organs need resiliency to resist stresses while still maintaining plasticity to accommodate growth. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is central to providing resiliency, but how ECM is remodeled to accommodate growth is poorly understood.

Epithelial polarity proteins regulate Drosophila tracheal tube size in parallel to the luminal matrix pathway.

Regulation of epithelial tube size is critical for organ function. However, the mechanisms of tube size control remain poorly understood. In the Drosophila trachea, tube dimensions are regulated by a luminal extracellular matrix (ECM).

Selecting optimum eukaryotic integral membrane proteins for structure determination by rapid expression and solubilization screening.

A medium-throughput approach is used to rapidly identify membrane proteins from a eukaryotic organism that are most amenable to expression in amounts and quality adequate to support structure determination. The goal was to expand knowledge of new membrane protein structures based on proteome-wide coverage. In the first phase, membrane proteins from the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were selected for homologous expression in S.