The proneural wave in the Drosophila optic lobe is driven by an excitable reaction-diffusion mechanism.

ABSTRACT: In living organisms, self-organised waves of signalling activity propagate spatiotemporal information within tissues. During the development of the largest component of the visual processing centre of the Drosophila brain, a travelling wave of proneural gene expression initiates neurogenesis in the larval optic lobe primordium and drives the sequential transition of neuroepithelial cells into neuroblasts. Here, we propose that this 'proneural wave' is driven by an excitable reaction-diffusion system involving epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalling interacting with the proneural gene l'sc. Within this framework, a propagating transition zone emerges from molecular feedback and diffusion. Ectopic activation of EGFR signalling in clones within the neuroepithelium dem

SUBMITTER: Jorg DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6386523 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature