Crag regulates epithelial architecture and polarized deposition of basement membrane proteins in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The polarized architecture of epithelia relies on an interplay between the cytoskeleton, the trafficking machinery, and cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion. Specifically, contact with the basement membrane (BM), an extracellular matrix underlying the basal side of epithelia, is important for cell polarity. However, little is known about how BM proteins themselves achieve a polarized distribution. In a genetic screen in the Drosophila follicular epithelium, we identified mutations in Crag, which encodes a conserved protein with domains implicated in membrane trafficking. Follicle cells mutant for Crag lose epithelial integrity and frequently become invasive. The loss of Crag leads to the anomalous accumulation of BM components on both sides of epithelial cells without directly affecting the

SUBMITTER: Denef N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2278040 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature