Drosophila Pxt: a cyclooxygenase-like facilitator of follicle maturation.

ABSTRACT: Prostaglandins are local transient hormones that mediate a wide variety of biological events, including reproduction. The study of prostaglandin biology in a genetically tractable invertebrate model organism has been limited by the lack of clearly identified prostaglandin-mediated biological processes and prostaglandin metabolic genes, particularly analogs of cyclooxygenase (COX), the rate-limiting step in vertebrate prostaglandin synthesis. Here, we present pharmacological data that Drosophila ovarian follicle maturation requires COX-like activity and genetic evidence that this activity is supplied in vivo by the Drosophila peroxidase Pxt. pxt mutant females are sterile, and maturing follicles show defects in actin filament formation, nurse cell membrane stability and border cell migratio

SUBMITTER: Tootle TL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2818214 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature