Presenter(s)

Anjali Sangeeth

Comments

11:00-12:30, Kennedy Union 222

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Description

During organogenesis, the establishment of the Antero-Posterior (AP), Dorso-Ventral (DV), and Proximo-Distal (PD) axes is crucial for the transition from a two-dimensional organ primordium to a three-dimensional organ. These complex developmental processes rely on the coordinated actions of transcription factors, morphogens, and signaling pathways along spatio-temporal axes. Recently, we identified defective proventriculus (dve), a K-50 transcription factor, the ortholog of human SATB1, as a dorsal fate selector gene in eye development, which induces wingless (wg) to promote head-specific fate. In Drosophila eye, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the evolutionarily conserved Dpp/Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) pathway, is crucial for initiating morphogenetic furrow progression at the posterior margin, regulating proliferation and retinal differentiation. Dpp interacts antagonistically with Wingless (Wg) to modulate retinal differentiation. In this study, we explore the interaction between the dve and the Dpp signaling pathway, highlighting how this interplay determines the fate of the Drosophila eye versus the head cuticle. Our findings indicate that Dpp and dve are mutually antagonistic in defining eye versus head identity. Misexpression of dpp in the head vertex region shifted the fate from head to eye, overriding the wg influence. This alteration was accompanied by negative regulation of Homothorax (hth) and ectopic expression of retinal differentiation factors. Moreover, we demonstrate that this interaction is conserved in mammals through SATB1, which has been implicated in hypertelorism, a craniofacial defect characterized by an abnormal increase in the distance between the eyes, resulting from disruptions in axial patterning processes.

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Amit Singh

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship

Decapentaplegic and Defective Proventriculus: A Tug-of-War in Determining Eye and Head Fate

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