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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Preparation of Adult Drosophila Eyes for Thin Sectioning and Microscopic Analysis
Published on: August 27, 2011
Rho-family small GTPases are required for cell polarization and directional sensing in Drosophila wound healing
Seung Hee Baek1, Young-Chang Kwon, Hyangkyu Lee
1Department of Biology, Yonsei University, 262 Seongsanno, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
A wound induces cell polarization, in which myosin II is localized at the rear end of individual cells in a migrating epithelial sheet of the Drosophila larval epidermis. Here, we use myosin localization to demonstrate that Rac1, Cdc42, and Rho1 are each required for cell polarization and directional sensing of the wound. The three GTPases are also required for actin cable formation at the wound leading edge. Rac1, Cdc42, and Rho1 act upstream of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) to organize actin assembly. These results highlight the similarities between the molecular mechanism of Drosophila wound healing and those of Drosophila embryonic dorsal closure and the chemotactic response of Dictyostelium and leukocytes.
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