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Schnurri mediates Dpp-dependent repression of brinker transcription

Nature Cell Biology volume 2, pages 745–749 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Signalling by Decapentaplegic (Dpp), a member of the TGFβ superfamily of signalling molecules, controls many aspects of Drosophila development by activating and repressing target genes. Several essential components of the Dpp signalling pathway have been identified, including the Dpp receptors Punt and Thick veins (Tkv) as well as the cytoplasmic mediators Mad and Medea. For target genes to be activated, Dpp signalling must suppress transcription of a repressor encoded by the brinker (brk) gene. Here we show that Schnurri (Shn), a large zinc-finger protein, is essential for Dpp-mediated repression of brk transcription; in contrast, Shn is not required for target-gene activation. Thus, the Dpp signalling pathway bifurcates, downstream of the signal-mediating SMAD proteins, into a Shn-dependent pathway leading to brk repression and a Shn-independent pathway leading to gene activation. The existence of several Shn-like proteins in vertebrates and the observation that Brk functions in BMP signalling in Xenopus indicates that a similar regulatory cascade may be conserved in higher organisms.

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Figure 1: Shn is required for Dpp-mediated repression of brk transcription.
Figure 2: Removal of brk restores Dpp-responsiveness to shn-mutant embryos.
Figure 3: shn function is dispensable for activation of the Dpp target gene sal.
Figure 4: shn function is dispensable for activation of the Dpp-dependent quadrant enhancer of vg.
Figure 5: Model for the function of Shn in Dpp signalling.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Schuh, S. Cohen and N. Patel for antibodies, and S. Roth, C. Rushlow, A. Tomlinson, N. Brown and S. B. Carroll for flies and cDNAs. We also thank N. C. Grieder for the UAS-shn strains and C. Bazinet for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and by the Kantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Land and Zürich. During the course of this work, M.A. was a START fellow of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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  1. Thomas Marty, Bruno Müller and Konrad Basler: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Abteilung Zellbiologie, Biozentrum, Universität Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 70, Basel, CH-4056, Switzerland

    Thomas Marty & Markus Affolter

  2. Institut für Molekularbiologie, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zürich, CH-8057 , Switzerland

    Bruno Müller

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  1. Thomas Marty
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Correspondence to Markus Affolter.

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Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M. A.

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Marty, T., Müller, B., Basler, K. et al. Schnurri mediates Dpp-dependent repression of brinker transcription . Nat Cell Biol 2, 745–749 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35036383

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