Disease relevance of bgcn

• The structure, expression and possible function of the following four tumor suppressor genes are discussed: tumorous imaginal disc, lethal (3) malignant brain tumor, lethal (3) malignant blood neoplasm-1 and benign (2) gonial cell neoplasm [1].

High impact information on bgcn

• Here we investigate how bam and bgcn regulate the male germline stem cell lineage [2].
• Taken together, our results suggest that bam and bgcn regulate progression through the male germline stem cell lineage by cell-intrinsically restricting the proliferation of amplifying germ cells [2].
• By generating FLP-mediated clones, we demonstrate that both bam and bgcn act autonomously in the germline to restrict proliferation during spermatogenesis [2].
• Cessation of mitotic proliferation and onset of the meiotic program is regulated by the bam and bgcn genes acting within male germ cells and a TGF-beta class signaling cascade in surrounding somatic cells [3].
• Also, mutations in bgcn dominantly enhance a bam mutant phenotype, further corroborating the interdependence of these two genes' functions [4].

Biological context of bgcn

• However, we find that germ cells accumulating in bam or bgcn mutant testes most resemble amplifying germ cells, because they undergo incomplete cytokinesis and progress through the cell cycle in synchrony within a cyst, which are two characteristics of amplifying germ cells, but not of stem cells [2].
• Although the germline defect is cell autonomous in mosaic gonads, bgcn is also required in the somatic tissue for maintaining oogenesis of wild-type germ cells [5].
• Surveys of nucleotide sequence polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans were performed at 2 interacting loci crucial for gametogenesis: bag-of-marbles (bam) and benign gonial cell neoplasm (bgcn) [6].

Anatomical context of bgcn

• The data indicate that, like bam, bgcn is required for cystoblast development and that germ cells lacking bgcn become trapped in a stem cell-like state [7].
• Misexpression of Bam eliminates wild-type stem cells, apparently by inducing them to divide as cystoblasts. bgcn stem cells remain active when Bam is misexpressed, probably because they cannot adopt the cystoblast fate [7].

Other interactions of bgcn

• One indication that germ cells lacking bgcn cannot form cystoblasts is that bgcn stem cells resist genetic ablation by Bam misexpression [7].

References