Abstract
Regulated transcription of the prospero gene in the Drosophila eye provides a model for how gene expression is specifically controlled by signals from receptor tyrosine kinases. We show that prospero is controlled by signals from the EGF receptor DER and the Sevenless receptor. A direct link is established between DER activation of a transcription enhancer in prospero and binding of two transcription factors that are targets of DER signaling. Binding of the cell-specific Lozenge protein is also required for activation, and overlapping Lozenge protein distribution and DER signaling establishes expression in a subset of equivalent cells competent to respond to Sevenless. We show that Sevenless activates prospero independent of the enhancer and involves targeted degradation of Tramtrack, a transcription repressor.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 87-97 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Cell |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 29 2000 |
Funding
We wish to thank the following for their generous gifts: G. Campbell, M. Freeman, Y. Hiromi, T. Kojima, and J. Pollack for fly stocks; U. Banerjee, P. Gergen, and M. Kuziora for plasmids; R. Blackman for the D. virilis genomic library; and T. Kojima for Bar antibody. We thank E. Buehler, P. Gallagher, and G. Liao for technical assistance, G. Campbell for critically reading the manuscript, and U. Banerjee and A. Michelson for communicating results prior to publication. This work was supported by funds provided to R. W. C. from the NIH (EY10111), and the March of Dimes Foundation (Basic Research). R. W. C. was a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology