Drosophila Big bang regulates the apical cytocortex and wing growth through junctional tension.

ABSTRACT: Growth of epithelial tissues is regulated by a plethora of components, including signaling and scaffolding proteins, but also by junctional tension, mediated by the actomyosin cytoskeleton. However, how these players are spatially organized and functionally coordinated is not well understood. Here, we identify the Drosophila melanogaster scaffolding protein Big bang as a novel regulator of growth in epithelial cells of the wing disc by ensuring proper junctional tension. Loss of big bang results in the reduction of the regulatory light chain of nonmuscle myosin, Spaghetti squash. This is associated with an increased apical cell surface, decreased junctional tension, and smaller wings. Strikingly, these phenotypic traits of big bang mutant discs can be rescued by expressing constitutively a

SUBMITTER: Tsoumpekos G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5839783 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature