Oxygen regulation of airway branching in Drosophila is mediated by branchless FGF.
The Drosophila tracheal (respiratory) system is a tubular epithelial network that delivers oxygen to internal tissues. Sprouting of the major tracheal branches is stereotyped and controlled by hard-wired developmental cues. Here we show that ramification of the fine terminal branches is variable and regulated by oxygen, and that this process is controlled by a local signal or signals produced by oxygen-starved cells. We provide evidence that the critical signal is Branchless ( Bnl) FGF, the same growth factor that patterns the major branches during embryogenesis. During larval life, oxygen deprivation stimulates expression of Bnl, and the secreted growth factor functions as a chemoattractant that guides new terminal branches to the expressing cells. Thus, a single growth factor is reiteratively used to pattern each level of airway branching, and the change in branch patterning results from a switch from developmental to physiological control of its expression.[1]References
- Oxygen regulation of airway branching in Drosophila is mediated by branchless FGF. Jarecki, J., Johnson, E., Krasnow, M.A. Cell (1999) [Pubmed]
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