Conserved and divergent aspects of Robo receptor signaling and regulation between Drosophila Robo1 and C. elegans SAX-3.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionarily conserved Roundabout (Robo) family of axon guidance receptors control midline crossing of axons in response to the midline repellant ligand Slit in bilaterian animals including insects, nematodes, and vertebrates. Despite this strong evolutionary conservation, it is unclear whether the signaling mechanism(s) downstream of Robo receptors are similarly conserved. To directly compare midline repulsive signaling in Robo family members from different species, here we use a transgenic approach to express the Robo family receptor SAX-3 from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in neurons of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We examine SAX-3's ability to repel Drosophila axons from the Slit-expressing midline in gain of function assays, and test SAX-3's ability to substitut

SUBMITTER: Daiber T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8045725 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature