A genetic screen in Drosophila implicates Sex comb on midleg (Scm) in tissue overgrowth and mechanisms of Scm degradation by Wds. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guo, Jiwei; Jin, Dan
• Is Part Of: Mechanisms of development. Volume 136(2015)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 7
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Sex comb on midleg -- Non-autonomous overgrowth -- Ommatidia development -- Stability -- Proteasome -- Will die slowly; scm sex comb on midleg -- PcG polycomb group -- wds will die slowly -- MLL1 mixed lineage leukemia 1 -- Wdr5 WD repeat domain 5 -- Scml2 sex comb on midleg-like 2 -- PhoRC pho repressive complex -- PRC1 protein regulator of cytokinesis 1 -- PRC2 protein regulator of cytokinesis 2; Developmental biology -- Periodicals; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; Developmental Biology -- Periodicals; Molecular Biology -- Periodicals; Biologie du développement -- Périodiques; Biologie moléculaire -- Périodiques; Developmental biology; Molecular biology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 571.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mod.2015.03.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0925-4773

Abstract

Highlights: Loss function of Scm induces non-autonomous tissue overgrowth. Scm is important for ommatidium survival and development. Scm is essential for cell survival and tissue growth in Drosophila . Scm stability is controlled by Wds through the proteasome pathway. Abstract: The sex comb on midleg ( scm ) gene encodes a transcriptional repressor and belongs to the Polycomb group (PcG) of genes, which regulates growth in Drosophila . Scm interacts with Polyhomeotic (a PcG protein) in vitro by recognizing its SPM domain. The homologous human protein, Sex comb on midleg-like 2 (Scml2), has been implicated in malignant brain tumors. Will die slowly (Wds) is another factor that regulates Drosophila development, and its homologous human protein, WD repeat domain 5(Wdr5), is part of the mixed lineage leukemia 1(MLL1) complex that promotes histone H3Lys4 methylation. Like Scml2, Wdr5 has been implicated in certain cancers; this protein plays an important role in leukemogenesis. In this study, we find that loss-of-function mutations in Scm result in non-autonomous tissue overgrowth in Drosophila, and determine that Scm is essential for ommatidium development and important for cell survival in Drosophila. Furthermore, our research suggests a relationship between Wds and Scm; Wds promotes Scm degradation through ubiquitination in vitro in Drosophila .