Drosophila Stardust, a membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK), recruits the transmembrane protein Crumbs and the cytoplasmic proteins DPATJ and DLin-7 into an apically localized protein scaffold. This evolutionarily conserved complex is required for epithelial cell polarity in Drosophila embryos and mammalian cells in culture. In addition, mutations in Drosophila crumbs and DPATJ impair morphogenesis of photoreceptor cells (PRCs) and result in light-dependent retinal degeneration. Here we show that stardust is a genetically complex locus. While all alleles tested perturb epithelial cell polarity in the embryo, only a subset of them affects morphogenesis of PRCs or induces light-dependent retinal degeneration. Alleles retaining particular postembryonic functions still express some Stardust protein in pupal and/or adult eyes. The phenotypic complexity is reflected by the expression of distinct splice variants at different developmental stages. All proteins expressed in the retina contain the PSD95, Discs Large, ZO-1 (PDZ), Src homology 3 (SH3), and guanylate kinase (GUK) domain, but lack a large region in the N terminus encoded by one exon. These results suggest that Stardust-based protein scaffolds are dynamic, which is not only mediated by multiple interaction partners, but in addition by various forms of the Stardust protein itself.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1950624 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1534/genetics.107.071449 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Apical-basal polarity and the control of epithelial form and function.
Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol
August 2022
The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Epithelial cells are the most common cell type in all animals, forming the sheets and tubes that compose most organs and tissues. Apical-basal polarity is essential for epithelial cell form and function, as it determines the localization of the adhesion molecules that hold the cells together laterally and the occluding junctions that act as barriers to paracellular diffusion. Polarity must also target the secretion of specific cargoes to the apical, lateral or basal membranes and organize the cytoskeleton and internal architecture of the cell.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdentification and characterization of Crumbs polarity complex proteins in Caenorhabditis elegans.
J Biol Chem
April 2022
Division of Developmental Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Institute of Biodynamics and Biocomplexity, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address:
Crumbs proteins are evolutionarily conserved transmembrane proteins with essential roles in promoting the formation of the apical domain in epithelial cells. The short intracellular tail of Crumbs proteins are known to interact with several proteins, including the scaffolding protein PALS1 (protein associated with LIN7, Stardust in Drosophila). PALS1 in turn binds to a second scaffolding protein PATJ (PALS1-associated tight junction protein) to form the core Crumbs/PALS1/PATJ complex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn vivo Profiling of the Alk Proximitome in the Developing Drosophila Brain.
J Mol Biol
November 2021
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Instititute of Biomedicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-40530 Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address:
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (Alk) is an evolutionary conserved receptor tyrosine kinase belonging to the insulin receptor superfamily. In addition to its well-studied role in cancer, numerous studies have revealed that Alk signaling is associated with a variety of complex traits such as: regulation of growth and metabolism, hibernation, regulation of neurotransmitters, synaptic coupling, axon targeting, decision making, memory formation and learning, alcohol use disorder, as well as steroid hormone metabolism. In this study, we used BioID-based in vivo proximity labeling to identify molecules that interact with Alk in the Drosophila central nervous system (CNS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA putative stem-loop structure in is required for mRNA localisation in epithelia and germline cells.
J Cell Sci
January 2021
Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Crumbs (Crb) is an evolutionarily conserved transmembrane protein localised to the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Loss or mislocalisation of Crb is often associated with disruption of apicobasal cell polarity. mRNA is also apically enriched in epithelial cells, and, as shown here, accumulates in the oocyte of developing egg chambers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrosophila Models of Cell Polarity and Cell Competition in Tumourigenesis.
Adv Exp Med Biol
September 2019
Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Cell competition is an important surveillance mechanism that measures relative fitness between cells in a tissue during development, homeostasis, and disease. Specifically, cells that are "less fit" (losers) are actively eliminated by relatively "more fit" (winners) neighbours, despite the less fit cells otherwise being able to survive in a genetically uniform tissue. Originally described in the epithelial tissues of Drosophila larval imaginal discs, cell competition has since been shown to occur in other epithelial and non-epithelial Drosophila tissues, as well as in mammalian model systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!