Lessons from Drosophila Pointed, an ETS family transcription factor and key nuclear effector of the RTK signaling...

The ETS family of transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved throughout the metazoan lineage and are critical for regulating cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and migration. All members have an ETS DNA binding domain, while a subset also has a protein-protein interaction domain called the SAM domain. Pointed (Pnt), an ETS transcriptional activator functions downstream of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling pathway to regulate diverse processes during the development of Drosophila. This review highlights the indispensable role that Pnt plays in regulating normal development and how continued investigation into its function and regulation will provide key mechanistic insight into understanding why the de-regulation of its vertebrate orthologs, ETS1 and ETS2 results in cancer.