Cell cycle control in the Drosophila wing

How Wingless and Decapentaplegic regulate cell proliferation in the developing Drosophila limbs and how cell proliferation and limb growth are coordinated are two of the most intriguing questions in developmental biology nowadays. Two recent reports [Johnston LA, Edgar BA. Nature 1998;394:82-84 (Ref. 1) and Neufeld TP, et al. 1998; Cell 93:1183-1193 (Ref. 2)] have shed new light on these questions. The first report [Johnston LA, Edgar BA. Nature 1998;394:82-84 (Ref. 1)] shows how Wingless regulates the cell cycle of a particular group of cells in the late wing discs. A second paper [Neufeld TP, et al. 1998; Cell 93:1183-1193 (Ref. 2)] shows the role of cell cycle regulators in proliferating wing disc cells and the relationship between cell division and limb growth.