Multiple modular promoter elements drive graded brinker expression in response to the Dpp morphogen gradient.

ABSTRACT: Morphogen gradients play fundamental roles in patterning and cell specification during development by eliciting differential transcriptional responses in target cells. In Drosophila, Decapentaplegic (Dpp), the BMP2/4 homolog, downregulates transcription of the nuclear repressor brinker (brk) in a concentration-dependent manner to generate an inverse graded distribution. Both Dpp and Brk are crucial for directing Dpp target gene expression in defined domains and the consequent execution of distinct developmental programs. Thus, determining the mechanism by which the brk promoter interprets the Dpp activity gradient is essential for understanding both Dpp-dependent patterning and how graded signaling activity can generate different responses through transcriptional repression. We have uncove

SUBMITTER: Yao LC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3027062 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature