Rap1 maintains adhesion between cells to affect Egfr signaling and planar cell polarity in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT: The small GTPase Rap1 affects cell adhesion and cell motility in numerous developmental contexts. Loss of Rap1 in the Drosophila wing epithelium disrupts adherens junction localization, causing mutant cells to disperse, and dramatically alters epithelial cell shape. While the adhesive consequences of Rap1 inactivation have been well described in this system, the effects on cell signaling, cell fate specification, and tissue differentiation are not known. Here we demonstrate that Egfr-dependent cell types are lost from Rap1 mutant tissue as an indirect consequence of DE-cadherin mislocalization. Cells lacking Rap1 in the developing wing and eye are capable of responding to an Egfr signal, indicating that Rap1 is not required for Egfr/Ras/MAPK signal transduction. Instead, Rap1 regulates adh

SUBMITTER: O'Keefe DD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2730837 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature