Drosophila endocytic neoplastic tumor suppressor genes regulate Sav/Wts/Hpo signaling and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway.

ABSTRACT: Genetic screens in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have identified a class of neoplastic tumor suppressor genes (endocytic nTSGs), which encode proteins that localize to endosomes and facilitate the trafficking of membrane-bound receptors and adhesion molecules into the degradative lysosome. Loss of endocytic nTSGs transforms imaginal disc epithelia into highly proliferative, invasive tissues that fail to differentiate and display defects in cellular apicobasal polarity, adhesion and tissue architecture. As vertebrate homologs of some Drosophila nTSGs are linked to tumor formation, identifying molecular changes in signaling associated with nTSG loss could inform understanding of neoplastic transformation in vertebrates. Here we show that mutations in genes that act at multiple steps

SUBMITTER: Robinson BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3272291 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature