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First published online 24 September 2003
doi: 10.1242/dev.00759

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published All Versions of this Article: dev.00759v1 130/22/5413    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gaengel, K. Articles by Mlodzik, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gaengel, K. Articles by Mlodzik, M.

Egfr signaling regulates ommatidial rotation and cell motility in the Drosophila eye via MAPK/Pnt signaling and the Ras effector Canoe/AF6

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Brookdale Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: marek.mlodzik{at}mssm.edu)

Accepted 29 July 2003

Epidermal Growth Factor-receptor (Egfr) signaling is evolutionarily conserved and controls a variety of different cellular processes. In Drosophila these include proliferation, patterning, cell-fate determination, migration and survival. Here we provide evidence for a new role of Egfr signaling in controlling ommatidial rotation during planar cell polarity (PCP) establishment in the Drosophila eye. Although the signaling pathways involved in PCP establishment and photoreceptor cell-type specification are beginning to be unraveled, very little is known about the associated 90° rotation process. One of the few rotation-specific mutations known is roulette (rlt) in which ommatidia rotate to a random degree, often more than 90°. Here we show that rlt is a rotation-specific allele of the inhibitory Egfr ligand Argos and that modulation of Egfr activity shows defects in ommatidial rotation. Our data indicate that, beside the Raf/MAPK cascade, the Ras effector Canoe/AF6 acts downstream of Egfr/Ras and provides a link from Egfr to cytoskeletal elements in this developmentally regulated cell motility process. We provide further evidence for an involvement of cadherins and non-muscle myosin II as downstream components controlling rotation. In particular, the involvement of the cadherin Flamingo, a PCP gene, downstream of Egfr signaling provides the first link between PCP establishment and the Egfr pathway.

Key words: Canoe/AF6, Egfr, Ommatidial rotation, Planar cell polarity (PCP), roulette (rlt), Argos, Flamingo

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