Regulation of the <i>Drosophila</i> ID protein Extra macrochaetae by proneural dimerization partners.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29687780.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.33967 and PMC identifier 5915177.
- 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
Proneural bHLH proteins are transcriptional regulators of neural fate specification. Extra macrochaetae (Emc) forms inactive heterodimers with both proneural bHLH proteins and their bHLH partners (represented in <i>Drosophila</i> by Daughterless). It is generally thought that varying levels of Emc define a prepattern that determines where proneural bHLH genes can be effective. We report that instead it is the bHLH proteins that determine the pattern of Emc levels. Daughterless level sets Emc protein levels in most cells, apparently by stabilizing Emc in heterodimers. Emc is destabilized in proneural regions by local competition for heterodimer formation by proneural bHLH proteins including Atonal or AS-C proteins. Reflecting this post-translational control through protein stability, uniform <i>emc</i> transcription is sufficient for almost normal patterns of neurogenesis. Protein stability regulated by exchanges between bHLH protein dimers could be a feature of bHLH-mediated developmental events.
Medical subject headings
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins
- Drosophila
- Drosophila Proteins
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Nerve Tissue Proteins
- Protein Multimerization
- Repressor Proteins