Combined inactivation of pRB and hippo pathways induces dedifferentiation in the Drosophila retina.

ABSTRACT: Functional inactivation of the Retinoblastoma (pRB) pathway is an early and obligatory event in tumorigenesis. The importance of pRB is usually explained by its ability to promote cell cycle exit. Here, we demonstrate that, independently of cell cycle exit control, in cooperation with the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway, pRB functions to maintain the terminally differentiated state. We show that mutations in the Hippo signaling pathway, wts or hpo, trigger widespread dedifferentiation of rbf mutant cells in the Drosophila eye. Initially, rbf wts or rbf hpo double mutant cells are morphologically indistinguishable from their wild-type counterparts as they properly differentiate into photoreceptors, form axonal projections, and express late neuronal markers. However, the double mutant cells c

SUBMITTER: Nicolay BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2858677 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature