Drosophila wing imaginal discs respond to mechanical injury via slow InsP3R-mediated intercellular calcium waves.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27503836.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms12450 and PMC identifier 4980486.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Calcium signalling is a highly versatile cellular communication system that modulates basic functions such as cell contractility, essential steps of animal development such as fertilization and higher-order processes such as memory. We probed the function of calcium signalling in Drosophila wing imaginal discs through a combination of ex vivo and in vivo imaging and genetic analysis. Here we discover that wing discs display slow, long-range intercellular calcium waves (ICWs) when mechanically stressed in vivo or cultured ex vivo. These slow imaginal disc intercellular calcium waves (SIDICs) are mediated by the inositol-3-phosphate receptor, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium pump SERCA and the key gap junction component Inx2. The knockdown of genes required for SIDIC formation and propagation negatively affects wing disc recovery after mechanical injury. Our results reveal a role for ICWs in wing disc homoeostasis and highlight the utility of the wing disc as a model for calcium signalling studies.
Medical subject headings
- Calcium Signaling
- Drosophila Proteins
- Drosophila melanogaster
- Extracellular Space
- Imaginal Discs
- Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors
- Wings, Animal