Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Spannl, Stephanie
• Kumichel, Alexandra
• Hebbar, Sarita
• Kapp, Katja
• Gonzalez-Gaitan, Marcos
• Winkler, Sylke
• Blawid, Rosana
• Jessberger, Gregor
• Knust, Elisabeth

Titel

The Crumbs_C isoform of Drosophila shows tissue- and stage-specific expression and prevents light-dependent retinal degeneration

Ist Teil von

• Biology open, 2017-02, Vol.6 (2), p.165-175

Ort / Verlag

England: The Company of Biologists Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Free E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Crumbs (Crb) is a key regulator of epithelial polarity and fulfils a plethora of other functions, such as growth regulation, morphogenesis of photoreceptor cells and prevention of retinal degeneration. This raises the question how a single gene regulates such diverse functions, which in mammals are controlled by three different paralogs. Here, we show that in different Crb protein isoforms are differentially expressed as a result of alternative splicing. All isoforms are transmembrane proteins that differ by just one EGF-like repeat in their extracellular portion. Unlike Crb_A, which is expressed in most embryonic epithelia from early stages onward, Crb_C is expressed later and only in a subset of embryonic epithelia. Flies specifically lacking Crb_C are homozygous viable and fertile. Strikingly, these flies undergo light-dependent photoreceptor degeneration despite the fact that the other isoforms are expressed and properly localised at the stalk membrane. This allele now provides an ideal possibility to further unravel the molecular mechanisms by which protects photoreceptor cells from the detrimental consequences of light-induced cell stress.