Parker L, Stathakis D G, Arora K
Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California Irvine, 4215 McGaugh Hall, Irvine, California 92697-2300, USA.
Prog Mol Subcell Biol. 2004;34:73-101. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-18670-7_4.
Cytokines of the TGF-beta superfamily act through an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway to elicit a diverse range of biological responses in vertebrates as well as invertebrates. Drosophila has proved to be a powerful system to unravel the profound complexities underlying the regulation of this superficially simple signaling system for two reasons--the availability of sophisticated genetic tools and the restricted number of core signaling components compared to vertebrates. A BMP signaling pathway in Drosophila that regulates growth, differentiation and morphogenesis of the embryo and the larva has been extensively characterized. This work has provided major insights into how gradients of secreted proteins can be established and maintained in vivo, allowing a single ligand to induce multiple cell fates rather than function as an on-off switch. More recently, an activin signaling pathway has also been delineated that is required for growth and neuronal function during development. This review provides an overview of TGF-beta signaling in Drosophila with emphasis on the extensive modulation of signaling activity both within and outside the cell, that enables ligands to trigger specific and context-dependent effects.
转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）超家族的细胞因子通过一条进化上保守的信号通路发挥作用，在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物中引发多种生物学反应。果蝇已被证明是一个强大的系统，可用于揭示这个表面上简单的信号系统调控背后的深刻复杂性，原因有两个——拥有精密的遗传工具，且与脊椎动物相比，核心信号成分数量有限。果蝇中一条调节胚胎和幼虫生长、分化及形态发生的骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）信号通路已得到广泛表征。这项工作为分泌蛋白梯度如何在体内建立和维持提供了重要见解，使得单个配体能够诱导多种细胞命运，而不是作为一个开关起作用。最近，一条在发育过程中对生长和神经元功能必需的激活素信号通路也已被阐明。本综述概述了果蝇中的TGF-β信号，重点关注细胞内和细胞外信号活性的广泛调节，这使得配体能够触发特定的、依赖于背景的效应。
