Organ-specific gene expression: the bHLH protein Sage provides tissue specificity to Drosophila FoxA.

ABSTRACT: FoxA transcription factors play major roles in organ-specific gene expression, regulating, for example, glucagon expression in the pancreas, GLUT2 expression in the liver, and tyrosine hydroxylase expression in dopaminergic neurons. Organ-specific gene regulation by FoxA proteins is achieved through cooperative regulation with a broad array of transcription factors with more limited expression domains. Fork head (Fkh), the sole Drosophila FoxA family member, is required for the development of multiple distinct organs, yet little is known regarding how Fkh regulates tissue-specific gene expression. Here, we characterize Sage, a bHLH transcription factor expressed exclusively in the Drosophila salivary gland (SG). We show that Sage is required for late SG survival and normal tube morphology.

SUBMITTER: Fox RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3640219 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature