The insulator protein CTCF regulatesDrosophilasteroidogenesis | Zendy

Ujué Fresán | Zendy; Sergi Cuartero | Zendy; Michael B. O’Connor | Zendy; Maria Lluı̈sa Espinás | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

The insulator protein CTCF regulatesDrosophilasteroidogenesis

Author(s) -

Ujué Fresán,

Sergi Cuartero,

Michael B. O’Connor,

Maria Lluı̈sa Espinás

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

biology open

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.936

H-Index - 41

ISSN - 2046-6390

DOI - 10.1242/bio.012344

Subject(s) - prothoracic gland , ecdysone , biology , gene knockdown , ctcf , microbiology and biotechnology , insulator (electricity) , gene , regulator , transcription factor , enhancer , medicine , endocrinology , genetics , electrical engineering , engineering

The steroid hormone ecdysone is a central regulator of insect development. In this report we show that CTCF expression in the prothoracic gland is required for full transcriptional activation of the Halloween genes spookier, shadow and noppera-bo, which encode ecdysone biosynthetic enzymes, and for proper timing of ecdysone-responsive gene expression. Loss of CTCF results in delayed and less synchronized larval development that can only be rescued by feeding larvae with both, the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone and cholesterol. Moreover, CTCF-knockdown in prothoracic gland cells leads to increased lipid accumulation. In conclusion, the insulator protein CTCF is required for Halloween gene expression and cholesterol homeostasis in ecdysone-producing cells controlling steroidogenesis.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research