COPI vesicle transport is a common requirement for tube expansion in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tube expansion defects like stenoses and atresias cause devastating human diseases. Luminal expansion during organogenesis begins to be elucidated in several systems but we still lack a mechanistic view of the process in many organs. The Drosophila tracheal respiratory system provides an amenable model to study tube size regulation. In the trachea, COPII anterograde transport of luminal proteins is required for extracellular matrix assembly and the concurrent tube expansion.

Principal findings

We identified and analyzed Drosophila COPI retrograde transport mutants with narrow tracheal tubes. gammaCOP mutants fail to efficiently secrete luminal components and assemble the luminal chitinous matrix during tracheal tube expansion. Likewise, tube extension is defective

SUBMITTER: Jayaram SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2276865 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature