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EMBO reports 8, 8, 778–783 (2007)
doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7401003
AOP Published online: 15 June 2007
Hedgehog restricts its expression domain in the Drosophila wing
Fernando Bejarano1, Lidia Pérez1, Yiorgos Apidianakis2, Christos Delidakis2 & Marco Milán1
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1 ICREA and Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Parc Científic de Barcelona, Josep Samitier, 1-5, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
2 Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas and Department of Biology, University of Crete, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
To whom correspondence should be addressed
Marco Milán Tel: +34 93 4034902; Fax: +34 93 4037109; E-mail: mmilan@pcb.ub.es
Received 8 January 2007; Accepted 2 May 2007; Published online 15 June 2007.
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Abstract
The stable subdivision of Drosophila limbs into anterior and posterior compartments is a consequence of asymmetrical signalling by Hedgehog (Hh), from the posterior to anterior cells. The activity of the homeodomain protein Engrailed in posterior cells helps to generate this asymmetry by inducing the expression of Hh in the posterior compartment and, at the same time, repressing the expression of the essential downstream component Cubitus interruptus (Ci). Therefore, only anterior cells that receive the Hh signal across the compartment boundary will respond by stabilizing Ci. Here, we describe a new molecular mechanism that helps to maintain the Hh-expressing and Hh-responding cells in different non-overlapping cell populations. Master of thickveins (mtv)—a target of Hh activity encoding a nuclear zinc-finger protein—is required to repress hh expression in anterior cells. Mtv exerts this action in a protein complex with Groucho (Gro)—the founding member of a superfamily of transcriptional corepressors that are conserved throughout eukaryotes. Therefore, Hh restricts its own expression domain in the Drosophila wing through the activity of Mtv and Gro.
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