Top 15 articles on Hox function- Part III
Today in the third and last part of “Top 15 articles on Hox function” series ( In case if you are new here ,the first two parts can be read here and here ),we see five outstanding articles related to Hox function. So here it goes:
11) Study by Passner et al determined the crystal structure of an Ultrabithorax-Extradenticle-DNA complex at 2.4A° resolution, using the minimal polypeptides that form a cooperative heterodimer. It was first of its kind, where crystal structure of proteins was determined on physiological target. The HD of Hox and PBC proteins face each other in a head to tail orientation, with the PBC HD contacting the 5’ nucleotides of the binding site in the minor groove. Most of the cooperative interactions arise from the YPWM amino-acid motif of Ultrabithorax located amino-terminally to its homeodomain which forms a reverse turn and inserts into a hydrophobic pocket on the Extradenticle homeodomain surface.
Structure of a DNA-bound Ultrabithorax-Extradenticle homeodomain complex.
Passner, J.M., Ryoo, H.D., Shen, L., Mann, R.S., and Aggarwal, A.K.
Nature 397, 714-719. 1999.
12) This work from the lab of Leslie Pick happens to be my favorite among all 15 articles mentioned in the series. Its an excellent work and well ahead of time in the field of evo devo. Authors performed some simple but efficient experiments to show how Drosophila fushi tarazu (ftz) evolved from an ancestral homeotic gene to obtain a novel function in segmentation.
As i have described it at length in my previous post in classic section here ,so i wont be going into more details but dont forget to read the entire article by the link provided (its really some exceptional and neat work)
Drosophila fushi tarazu. a gene on the border of homeotic function.
Löhr U, Yussa M, Pick L.
Curr Biol. 2001 Sep 18;11(18):1403-12.
13) Next on list is the work from the laboratory of Sean B Carroll concerning with the role of homeotic genes in regulation and evolution of insect wing number. Published in year 1995 in journal Nature ,authors show that wings first arose without any homeotic gene involvement in an ancestor with a homeotic ‘groundplan’ similar to modern winged insects and that wing formation subsequently fell under the negative control of individual homeotic genes at different stages of pterygote evolution.
Homeotic genes and the regulation and evolution of insect wing number.
Carroll SB, Weatherbee SD, Langeland JA.
Nature. 1995 May 4;375(6526):58-61.
14) posterior most Hox protein Abdominal – B is required to specify the posterior abdomen and the genitalia in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Authors Estrada B and Sánchez-Herrero E showed that absence of Abdominal-B in the genital disc of Drosophila transforms male and female genitalia into leg or, less frequently, into antenna. This change is linked to ectopic expression of distalless gene ,normally required for the formation of limbs. Abd-B represses dll and also modifies the an underlying positional information for appendage formation and by doing this it promotes forming genitalia.
The Hox gene Abdominal-B antagonizes appendage development in the genital disc of Drosophila.
Estrada B, Sánchez-Herrero E.
Development. 2001 Feb;128(3):331-9.
15) Hox proteins play major roles by coordinating the organisation and differentiation of adult structures ,which they control by selective activation or repression of downstream gene networks that control diverse cellular processes underlying organogenesis. Some truly amazing work where for the first time a complete network linking the Hox gene Abdominal-B to the realizator genes it controls during the organogenesis of the external respiratory organ of the larva.Abdominal-B induces the expression of four intermediate signaling molecules and transcription factors, and this expression results in the mosaic activation of several realizator genes, which plays essential role in of posterior spiracle formation.
Coordinated control of cell adhesion, polarity, and cytoskeleton underlies Hox-induced organogenesis in Drosophila.
Lovegrove B, Simões S, Rivas ML, Sotillos S, Johnson K, Knust E, Jacinto A, Hombría JC.
Curr Biol. 2006 Nov 21;16(22):2206-16
With the third and final part we finish the series on articles related to Hox function. Hope you found them interesting.
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