Abstract
Organismal size is determined by a tightly regulated mechanism that coordinates cell growth, cell proliferation and cell death. The Drosophila insulin receptor/Chico/Dp110 pathway regulates cell and organismal size. Here we show that genetic manipulation of the phosphoinositide-3-OH-kinase-dependent serine/threonine protein kinase Akt (protein kinase B) during development of the Drosophila imaginal disc affects cell and organ size in an autonomous manner. Ectopic expression of Akt does not affect cell-fate determination, apoptosis or proliferation rates in imaginal discs. Thus, Akt appears to stimulate intracellular pathways that specifically regulate cell and compartment size independently of cell proliferation in vivo.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Manoukian, M. Fortini, H. Steller and B. Edgar for providing fly stocks; R. Nusse for providing the pMK33 vector; Y. Ye for help with microinjections; and K. Quinn, N. Budnik and N. Brake for expert technical assistance. J.V. is supported by a Spanish Ministry of Science and Education Postdoctoral Fellowship. E.L.W. is supported by NIH grant GM 55162.
Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.J.B.
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Verdu, J., Buratovich, M., Wilder, E. et al. Cell-autonomous regulation of cell and organ growth in Drosophila by Akt/PKB. Nat Cell Biol 1, 500–506 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/70293
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/70293
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