A feed-forward loop coupling extracellular BMP transport and morphogenesis in Drosophila wing

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Cell Signaling
• Molecular Genetics

Background:

• Extracellular factors are crucial for developmental morphogenesis.
• The interplay between extracellular signaling and dynamic morphogenesis remains poorly understood.
• Long-range Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) transport is vital for Drosophila pupal wing vein development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the coordination between extracellular signaling and dynamic morphogenesis.
• To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying posterior crossvein (PCV) development in Drosophila.
• To understand how BMP transport and PCV morphogenesis are coupled.

Main Methods:

• Utilized Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism.
• Investigated the role of RhoGAP Crossveinless-C (Cv-C) in PCV development.
• Analyzed BMP signaling pathways and Rho-type small GTPase activity.
• Examined ß-integrin accumulation in PCV epithelial cells.

Main Results:

• BMP signaling induces RhoGAP Crossveinless-C (Cv-C) in PCV primordial cells.
• Cv-C mediates cell-autonomous PCV morphogenesis by inhibiting Rho-type small GTPases.
• Cv-C is also required non-cell-autonomously for BMP transport into the PCV region.
• Loss of Rho-type small GTPases guides BMP transport to ectopic regions.
• Cv-C regulates basal ß-integrin accumulation, optimizing BMP transport.

Conclusions:

• BMP transport and PCV morphogenesis are tightly coupled through a feed-forward mechanism.
• This mechanism coordinates extracellular cues and morphogenesis for precise development.
• The identified coupling mechanism may be broadly applicable to development and homeostasis.