English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

The steroid hormone ecdysone coordinates insect growth and development, directing the major postembryonic transition of forms, metamorphosis. The steroid-deficient  ecdysoneless 1   ( ecd 1  ) strain of  Drosophila melanogaster  has long served to assess the impact of ecdysone on gene regulation, morphogenesis, or reproduction. However,  ecd  also exerts cell-autonomous effects independently of the hormone, and mammalian Ecd homologs have been implicated in cell cycle regulation and cancer. Why the  Drosophila ecd 1   mutants lack ecdysone has not been resolved. Here, we show that in  Drosophila  cells, Ecd directly interacts with core components of the U5 snRNP spliceosomal complex, including the conserved Prp8 protein. In accord with a function in pre-mRNA splicing, Ecd and Prp8 are cell-autonomously required for survival of proliferating cells within the larval imaginal discs. In the steroidogenic prothoracic gland, loss of Ecd or Prp8 prevents splicing of a large intron from  CYP307A2/spookier  ( spok ) pre-mRNA, thus eliminating this essential ecdysone-biosynthetic enzyme and blocking the entry to metamorphosis. Human Ecd (hEcd) can substitute for its missing fly ortholog. When expressed in the Ecd-deficient prothoracic gland, hEcd re-establishes  spok  pre-mRNA splicing and protein expression, restoring ecdysone synthesis and normal development. Our work identifies Ecd as a novel pre-mRNA splicing factor whose function has been conserved in its human counterpart. Whether the role of mammalian Ecd in cancer involves pre-mRNA splicing remains to be discovered.

Unexpected Role of the Steroid-Deficiency Protein Ecdysoneless in Pre-mRNA Splicing