Cadigan K M, Fish M P, Rulifson E J, Nusse R
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University Medical Center, California 94305, USA.
Cell. 1998 May 29;93(5):767-77. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81438-5.
In Drosophila wing imaginal discs, the Wingless (Wg) protein acts as a morphogen, emanating from the dorsal/ventral (D/V) boundary of the disc to directly define cell identities along the D/V axis at short and long range. Here, we show that high levels of a Wg receptor, Drosophila frizzled 2 (Dfz2), stabilize Wg, allowing it to reach cells far from its site of synthesis. Wg signaling represses Dfz2 expression, creating a gradient of decreasing Wg stability moving toward the D/V boundary. This repression of Dfz2 is crucial for the normal shape of Wg morphogen gradient as well as the response of cells to the Wg signal. In contrast to other ligand-receptor relationships where the receptor limits diffusion of the ligand, Dfz2 broadens the range of Wg action by protecting it from degradation.
在果蝇翅成虫盘里，无翅（Wg）蛋白作为一种形态发生素，从翅成虫盘的背/腹（D/V）边界发出，在短距离和长距离内直接沿D/V轴确定细胞身份。在此，我们表明，Wg受体果蝇卷曲蛋白2（Dfz2）的高水平可稳定Wg，使其能够到达远离其合成位点的细胞。Wg信号传导抑制Dfz2表达，从而形成一个朝着D/V边界Wg稳定性递减的梯度。Dfz2的这种抑制作用对于Wg形态发生素梯度的正常形状以及细胞对Wg信号的反应至关重要。与其他受体限制配体扩散的配体-受体关系不同，Dfz2通过保护Wg不被降解来扩大其作用范围。
