Letter abstract
Nature Cell Biology 9, 847 - 853 (2007)
Published online: 10 June 2007 | doi:10.1038/ncb1611
Wurst is essential for airway clearance and respiratory-tube size control
Matthias Behr1, Christian Wingen1, Christian Wolf2,3, Reinhard Schuh2 & Michael Hoch1
The Drosophila melanogaster tracheal system and the mammalian lung are branching networks of tubular epithelia that convert during late embryogenesis from liquid- to air-filling1, 2, 3. Little is known about how respiratory-tube size and physiology are coordinated. Here, we show that the Drosophila wurst gene encodes a unique J-domain transmembrane protein highly conserved in metazoa. In wurst mutants, respiratory-tube length is increased and lumen clearance is abolished, preventing gas filling of the airways. Wurst is essential for clathrin-mediated endocytosis4, which is required for size determination and lumen clearance of the airways. wurst recruits heat shock cognate protein 70-4 and clathrin to the apical membrane of epithelial cells. The sequence conservation of the single Wurst orthologues in mice and humans offer new opportunities for genetic studies of clinically relevant lung syndromes caused by the failure of liquid clearance and respiratory-tube size control.
- LIMES-Institute, Program Unit Development & Genetics, Laboratory for Molecular Developmental Biology, University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 169, D-53115 Bonn, Germany.
- Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Molecular Developmental Biology, Am Fassberg 11, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
- Current address: Intervet Innovation GmbH, Drug Discovery / Target Discovery, Zur Propstei, D-55270 Schwabenheim, Germany.
Correspondence to: Michael Hoch1 e-mail: m.hoch@uni-bonn.de
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