First published online May 17, 2004
Development 131, 1104e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Throwing a pebble into early development
Cell migration is an important embryological process that underlies tissue
specification and differentiation. During Drosophila gastrulation,
the fibroblast growth factor receptor Heartless (HTL) is required for mesoderm
migration. Now, Schumacher et al.
(p. 2631) and
Smallhorn et al. (p.
2641) report that Pebble (PBL), a guanyl nucleotide exchange factor
for RHO1, is also required for this process, independent of its known function
in cytokinesis. Schumacher and colleagues describe the shape changes that
mesoderm cells undergo during migration, and show that HTL is required for
their protrusive activity and their adhesion to the ectoderm. Then, in a
genetic screen they identify pbl as a new gene required for mesoderm
migration and report that constitutively active HTL cannot rescue the early
shape change defects seen in pbl mutants, indicating that PBL is
involved in HTL-triggered cell migration in Drosophila gastrula. In
their paper, Smallhorn and co-workers report that pbl mutant
mesodermal cells are more tightly adherent to their neighbours than are
wild-type cells, and that they fail to undergo the normal
epithelial-mesenchymal transition. These researchers also show that the GTP
exchange function of PBL is required for this transition.
Related articles in Development:
- The RhoGEF Pebble is required for cell shape changes during cell migration triggered by the Drosophila FGF receptor Heartless
- Sabine Schumacher, Tanja Gryzik, Sylvia Tannebaum, and H.-Arno J. Müller
Development 2004 131: 2631-2640.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
- The epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the Drosophila mesoderm requires the Rho GTP exchange factor Pebble
- Masha Smallhorn, Michael J. Murray, and Robert Saint
Development 2004 131: 2641-2651.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
