Inter-organ steroid hormone signaling promotes myoblast fusion via direct transcriptional regulation of a single key effector gene.

ABSTRACT: Steroid hormones regulate tissue development and physiology by modulating the transcription of a broad spectrum of genes. In insects, the principal steroid hormones, ecdysteroids, trigger the expression of thousands of genes through a cascade of transcription factors (TFs) to coordinate developmental transitions such as larval molting and metamorphosis. However, whether ecdysteroid signaling can bypass transcriptional hierarchies to exert its function in individual developmental processes is unclear. Here, we report that a single non-TF effector gene mediates the transcriptional output of ecdysteroid signaling in Drosophila myoblast fusion, a critical step in muscle development and differentiation. Specifically, we show that the 20-hydroxyecdysone (commonly referred to as "ecdysone") secre

SUBMITTER: Ruan ZR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11003854 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature