Coordination of cell cycle and morphogenesis during organ formation.

Organ formation requires precise regulation of cell cycle and morphogenetic events. Using the embryonic salivary gland (SG) as a model, we uncover the role of the SP1/KLF transcription factor Huckebein (Hkb) in coordinating cell cycle regulation and morphogenesis. The mutant SG exhibits defects in invagination positioning and organ size due to the abnormal death of SG cells.

Pig Movement Estimation by Integrating Optical Flow with a Multi-Object Tracking Model.

Pig husbandry constitutes a significant segment within the broader framework of livestock farming, with porcine well-being emerging as a paramount concern due to its direct implications on pig breeding and production. An easily observable proxy for assessing the health of pigs lies in their daily patterns of movement. The daily movement patterns of pigs can be used as an indicator of their health, in which more active pigs are usually healthier than those who are not active, providing farmers with knowledge of identifying pigs' health state before they become sick or their condition becomes life-threatening.

Multifunctional role of GPCR signaling in epithelial tube formation.

Epithelial tube formation requires Rho1-dependent actomyosin contractility to generate the cellular forces that drive cell shape changes and rearrangement. Rho1 signaling is activated by G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling at the cell surface. During Drosophila embryonic salivary gland (SG) invagination, the GPCR ligand Folded gastrulation (Fog) activates Rho1 signaling to drive apical constriction.

Tctp regulates the level and localization of Foxo for cell growth in Drosophila.

Regulation of cell size is crucial for organ development. Insulin signaling regulates organ size by antagonizing the subgroup O of forkhead box transcription factor (Foxo) through 14-3-3 in Drosophila. However, mechanisms for controlling the level and the nuclear localization of Foxo in developing organs are not well understood.

Isoform-specific roles of the Drosophila filamin-type protein Jitterbug (Jbug) during development.

Filamins are highly conserved actin-crosslinking proteins that regulate organization of the actin cytoskeleton. As key components of versatile signaling scaffolds, filamins are implicated in developmental anomalies and cancer. Multiple isoforms of filamins exist, raising the possibility of distinct functions for each isoform during development and in disease.

Regulation of apical constriction via microtubule- and Rab11-dependent apical transport during tissue invagination.

The formation of an epithelial tube is a fundamental process for organogenesis. During embryonic salivary gland (SG) invagination, Folded gastrulation (Fog)-dependent Rho-associated kinase (Rok) promotes contractile apical myosin formation to drive apical constriction. Microtubules (MTs) are also crucial for this process and are required for forming and maintaining apicomedial myosin.

Uncoupling apical constriction from tissue invagination.

Apical constriction is a widely utilized cell shape change linked to folding, bending and invagination of polarized epithelia. It remains unclear how apical constriction is regulated spatiotemporally during tissue invagination and how this cellular process contributes to tube formation in different developmental contexts. Using salivary gland (SG) invagination as a model, we show that regulation of expression by the Fork head transcription factor is required for apicomedial accumulation of Rho kinase and non-muscle myosin II, which coordinate apical constriction.

Building and specializing epithelial tubular organs: the Drosophila salivary gland as a model system for revealing how epithelial organs are specified, form and specialize.

The past two decades have witnessed incredible progress toward understanding the genetic and cellular mechanisms of organogenesis. Among the organs that have provided key insight into how patterning information is integrated to specify and build functional body parts is the Drosophila salivary gland, a relatively simple epithelial organ specialized for the synthesis and secretion of high levels of protein. Here, we discuss what the past couple of decades of research have revealed about organ specification, development, specialization, and death, and what general principles emerge from these studies.

Cadherin 99C regulates apical expansion and cell rearrangement during epithelial tube elongation.

Apical and basolateral determinants specify and maintain membrane domains in epithelia. Here, we identify new roles for two apical surface proteins - Cadherin 99C (Cad99C) and Stranded at Second (SAS) - in conferring apical character in Drosophila tubular epithelia. Cad99C, the Drosophila ortholog of human Usher protocadherin PCDH15, is expressed in several embryonic tubular epithelial structures.

Trachealess (Trh) regulates all tracheal genes during Drosophila embryogenesis.

The Drosophila trachea is a branched tubular epithelia that transports oxygen and other gases. trachealess (trh), which encodes a bHLH-PAS transcription factor, is among the first genes to be expressed in the cells that will form the trachea. In the absence of trh, tracheal cells fail to invaginate to form tubes and remain on the embryo surface.

Serrano (sano) functions with the planar cell polarity genes to control tracheal tube length.

Epithelial tubes are the functional units of many organs, and proper tube geometry is crucial for organ function. Here, we characterize serrano (sano), a novel cytoplasmic protein that is apically enriched in several tube-forming epithelia in Drosophila, including the tracheal system. Loss of sano results in elongated tracheae, whereas Sano overexpression causes shortened tracheae with reduced apical boundaries.

The balance between the novel protein target of wingless and the Drosophila Rho-associated kinase pathway regulates planar cell polarity in the Drosophila wing.

Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is mediated by the serpentine receptor Frizzled (Fz) and transduced by Dishevelled (Dsh). Wingless (Wg) signaling utilizes Drosophila Frizzled 2 (DFz2) as a receptor and also requires Dsh for transducing signals to regulate cell proliferation and differentiation in many developmental contexts. Distinct pathways are activated downstream of Dsh in Wg- and Fz-signaling pathways.

Ectopic expression of Tollo/Toll-8 antagonizes Dpp signaling and induces cell sorting in the Drosophila wing.

The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila consists of the primordia for the adult wing and the body wall. The zinc-finger transcription factor Teashirt (Tsh) is expressed in the region proximal to the wing primordium and regulates the formation of the wing-body wall boundary. Here, we report that Tollo/Toll-8, a member of Toll family transmembrane proteins, is also expressed proximal to the wing domain.