Reference Report

Reference
Citation	Charlton-Perkins, M., Whitaker, S.L., Fei, Y., Xie, B., Li-Kroeger, D., Gebelein, B., Cook, T. (2011). Prospero and Pax2 combinatorially control neural cell fate decisions by modulating Ras- and Notch-dependent signaling. Neural Dev. 6(): 20. (Export to RIS)
FlyBase ID	FBrf0213993
Publication Type	Research paper
PubMed ID	21539742
PubMed Abstract	The concept of an equivalence group, a cluster of cells with equal potential to adopt the same specific fate, has served as a useful paradigm to understand neural cell type specification. In the Drosophila eye, a set of five cells, called the 'R7 equivalence group', generates a single photoreceptor neuron and four lens-secreting epithelial cells. This choice between neuronal versus non-neuronal cell fates rests on differential requirements for, and cross-talk between, Notch/Delta- and Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent signaling pathways. However, many questions remain unanswered related to how downstream events of these two signaling pathways mediate distinct cell fate decisions.Here, we demonstrate that two direct downstream targets of Ras and Notch signaling, the transcription factors Prospero and dPax2, are essential regulators of neuronal versus non-neuronal cell fate decisions in the R7 equivalence group. Prospero controls high activated MAPK levels required for neuronal fate, whereas dPax2 represses Delta expression to prevent neuronal fate. Importantly, activity from both factors is required for proper cell fate decisions to occur.These data demonstrate that Ras and Notch signaling are integrated during cell fate decisions within the R7 equivalence group through the combinatorial and opposing activities of Pros and dPax2. Our study provides one of the first examples of how the differential expression and synergistic roles of two independent transcription factors determine cell fate within an equivalence group. Since the integration of Ras and Notch signaling is associated with many developmental and cancer models, these findings should provide new insights into how cell specificity is achieved by ubiquitously used signaling pathways in diverse biological contexts.
DOI	10.1186/1749-8104-6-20
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Language of Publication	English
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Publication Type	Journal
Abbreviation	Neural Dev.
Title	Neural Development
Publication Year	2006-
ISBN/ISSN	1749-8104
Data from Reference
Alleles (13)
	Ecol\lacZ^Dl-05151 Mmus\Cd8a^{Scer\UAS.T:Avic\GFP} pros¹⁷ pros^{dsRNA.Scer\UAS} pros^KK109284 pros^L.Scer\UAS Ras85D^V12.sev Scer\FLP1^ey.3.5.hs Scer\GAL4^mirr-DE Scer\GAL4^sev.EP sv^{dsRNA.Scer\UAS} sv^Scer\UAS.cKa sv^spa-pol
Constructs (9)
	P{ey-FLP.3.5} P{KK109284} P{sevEP-GAL4.B} P{sevRas1.V12} P{UAS-mCD8::GFP.L} P{UAS-pros.L} P{UAS-pros.RNAi} P{UAS-sv.K} P{UAS-sv.RNAi}
Genes (22)
	aop B-H1 CadN ct Dl dlg1 E(spl)m8-HLH Ecol\lacZ elav eya Mmus\Cd8a oc pros Ras85D Rh3 Rh4 rl Scer\FLP1 Scer\GAL4 sev shg sv
Insertions (2)
	P{GawB}mirr^DE P{PZ}Dl⁰⁵¹⁵¹
Natural transposons (1)
	P-element