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Vertebrate rel proteins exhibit dorsal‐like activities in early Drosophila embryogenesis
Author(s) -
Prothmann Christian,
Armstrong Neil J.,
Roth Siegfried,
Rupp Ralph A.W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
developmental dynamics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.634
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1097-0177
pISSN - 1058-8388
DOI - 10.1002/dvdy.20713
Subject(s) - biology , xenopus , microbiology and biotechnology , vertebrate , innate immune system , signal transduction , drosophila melanogaster , effector , embryogenesis , drosophila embryogenesis , morphogenesis , embryo , gene , genetics , receptor
In Drosophila , the Toll/Dorsal pathway triggers the nuclear entry of the Rel protein Dorsal, which controls dorsoventral patterning in early embryogenesis and plays an important role in innate immunity of the adult fly. In vertebrates, the homologous Toll/IL‐1 receptor signaling pathway directs the nuclear localization of Rel/NF‐κB complexes, which activate genes involved in proliferation, apoptosis, and immune response. Recently, first evidence has been reported for the activity of vertebrate Rel proteins and a Toll‐like signaling pathway in the dorsoventral patterning process of Xenopus laevis embryos. Given the evolutionary divergence of the fly and frog model organisms, these findings raise the question, to what extent the effector functions of this pathway have been conserved? Here, we report the ability of two Xenopus Rel proteins to partially substitute for several, but not all, functions of the Dorsal protein in Drosophila embryos. Our results suggest the interaction between Rel proteins and their cytoplasmic inhibitors as an important interface of evolutionary adaptation. Developmental Dynamics 235:949–957, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.