Freeman M
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Cell. 1996 Nov 15;87(4):651-60. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81385-9.
The Drosophila eye has contributed much to our knowledge of cell differentiation. This understanding has primarily come from the study of the R7 photoreceptor; much less is known about the development of the other classes of photoreceptor or the nonneuronal cone or pigment cells. I have used a dominant-negative form of the Drosophila epidermal growth factor receptor (DER) to show that this receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) is required for the differentiation of all these cell types, and I have also shown that DER is sufficient to trigger their development. DER is even required in R7, where it can replace Sevenless, another RTK. These results broaden our view of eye development to include the whole ommatidium and suggest that reiterative activation of DER is critical for triggering the differentiation of all cell types.
果蝇的眼睛为我们对细胞分化的认识做出了很大贡献。这种认识主要来自对R7光感受器的研究；而对于其他类型的光感受器或非神经元的视锥细胞及色素细胞的发育，我们了解得要少得多。我利用果蝇表皮生长因子受体（DER）的一种显性负性形式，证明了这种受体酪氨酸激酶（RTK）对于所有这些细胞类型的分化都是必需的，并且我还证明DER足以触发它们的发育。在R7中DER也是必需的，在那里它可以替代另一种RTK——Sevenless。这些结果拓宽了我们对眼睛发育的认识，将整个小眼纳入其中，并表明DER的反复激活对于触发所有细胞类型的分化至关重要。
