Nature Cell Biology5, 827 - 833 (2003)
Published online: 24 August 2003; | doi:10.1038/ncb1041
Wingless promotes cell survival but constrains growth during Drosophila wing development
Laura A. Johnston
& Angela L. Sanders
Department of Genetics & Development, College of Physicians & Surgeons Columbia University 701 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Laura A. Johnston lj180@columbia.edu
During animal development, organs grow to a fixed size and shape. Organ development typically begins with a rapid growth phase followed by a gradual decline in growth rate as the organ matures1, but the regulation of either stage of growth remains unclear. The Wnt/Wingless (Wg) proteins are critical for patterning most animal organs, have diverse effects on development and have been proposed to promote organ growth2. Here we report that contrary to this view, Wg activity actually constrains wing growth during Drosophila melanogaster wing development. In addition, we demonstrate that Wg is required for wing cell survival, particularly during the rapid growth phase of wing development. We propose that the cell-survival- and growth-constraining activities of Wg function to sculpt and delimit final wing size as part of its overall patterning programme.
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