Lint,a transmembrane serine protease,regulates growth and metabolism in Drosophila |
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Authors: | Himani Pathak Ananthakrishnan Vijaykumar Maya Abdul Basith Tanari Sohela Sarkar Jishy Varghese |
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Institution: | 1. School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER TVM), Maruthamala Post, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695551, India;2. Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Stübeweg 51, 79108 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany;3. Universite de Côte d’Azur, iBV—Institut de Biologie Valrose, Bat. Sciences Naturalles, Park Valrose, 28, Avenue Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France |
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Abstract: | Insulin signaling in Drosophila has a significant role in regulating growth, metabolism, fecundity, stress response, and longevity. The molecular mechanism by which insulin signaling regulates these vital processes is dependent on the nutrient status and oxygen availability of the organism. In a genetic screen to identify novel genes that regulate Drosophila insulin signaling, we discovered lumens interrupted (lint), a gene that has previously been shown to act in tracheal development. The knockdown of lint gene expression using a Dilp2Gal4 driver which expresses in the neuronal insulin producing cells (IPCs), led to defects in systemic insulin signaling, metabolic status and growth. However, our analysis of lint knockdown phenotypes revealed that downregulation of lint in the trachea and not IPCs was responsible for the growth phenotypes, as the Gal4 driver is also expressed in the tracheal system. We found various tracheal terminal branch defects, including reduction in the length as well as number of branches in the lint knockdown background. Our study reveals that substantial effects of lint downregulation arose because of tracheal defects, which induced tissue hypoxia, altered systemic insulin/TOR signaling, and resulted in effects on developmental growth regulation. |
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Keywords: | hypoxia trachea insulin signaling growth |
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