Translate this page to:
Choose Language…
In JoVE (1)
Other Publications (4)
Articles by Andriy S. Yatsenko in JoVE
JoVE General
Paraffin-Embedded and Frozen Sections of Drosophila Adult Muscles
Gene Expression and Signaling Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Identification of mechanisms underlying muscle damage is crucial. Here we present the histological technique for preparing paraffin-embedded and frozen sections of Drosophila thoracic muscles. This allows analysis of muscle morphology and localization of protein and other muscle cell components.
Other articles by Andriy S. Yatsenko on PubMed
Dissecting Muscle and Neuronal Disorders in a Drosophila Model of Muscular Dystrophy
Perturbation in the Dystroglycan (Dg)-Dystrophin (Dys) complex results in muscular dystrophies and brain abnormalities in human. Here we report that Drosophila is an excellent genetically tractable model to study muscular dystrophies and neuronal abnormalities caused by defects in this complex. Using a fluorescence polarization assay, we show a high conservation in Dg-Dys interaction between human and Drosophila. Genetic and RNAi-induced perturbations of Dg and Dys in Drosophila cause cell polarity and muscular dystrophy phenotypes: decreased mobility, age-dependent muscle degeneration and defective photoreceptor path-finding. Dg and Dys are required in targeting glial cells and neurons for correct neuronal migration. Importantly, we now report that Dg interacts with insulin receptor and Nck/Dock SH2/SH3-adaptor molecule in photoreceptor path-finding. This is the first demonstration of a genetic interaction between Dg and InR.
A Putative Src Homology 3 Domain Binding Motif but Not the C-terminal Dystrophin WW Domain Binding Motif is Required for Dystroglycan Function in Cellular Polarity in Drosophila
The conserved dystroglycan-dystrophin (Dg.Dys) complex connects the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton. In humans as well as Drosophila, perturbation of this complex results in muscular dystrophies and brain malformations and in some cases cellular polarity defects. However, the regulation of the Dg.Dys complex is poorly understood in any cell type. We now find that in loss-of-function and overexpression studies more than half (34 residues) of the Dg proline-rich conserved C-terminal regions can be truncated without significantly compromising its function in regulating cellular polarity in Drosophila. Notably, the truncation eliminates the WW domain binding motif at the very C terminus of the protein thought to mediate interactions with dystrophin, suggesting that a second, internal WW binding motif can also mediate this interaction. We confirm this hypothesis by using a sensitive fluorescence polarization assay to show that both WW domain binding sites of Dg bind to Dys in humans (K(d) = 7.6 and 81 microM, respectively) and Drosophila (K(d) = 16 and 46 microM, respectively). In contrast to the large deletion mentioned above, a single proline to an alanine point mutation within a predicted Src homology 3 domain (SH3) binding site abolishes Dg function in cellular polarity. This suggests that an SH3-containing protein, which has yet to be identified, functionally interacts with Dg.
Genetic Modifier Screens Reveal New Components That Interact with the Drosophila Dystroglycan-dystrophin Complex
The Dystroglycan-Dystrophin (Dg-Dys) complex has a capacity to transmit information from the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton inside the cell. It is proposed that this interaction is under tight regulation; however the signaling/regulatory components of Dg-Dys complex remain elusive. Understanding the regulation of the complex is critical since defects in this complex cause muscular dystrophy in humans. To reveal new regulators of the Dg-Dys complex, we used a model organism Drosophila melanogaster and performed genetic interaction screens to identify modifiers of Dg and Dys mutants in Drosophila wing veins. These mutant screens revealed that the Dg-Dys complex interacts with genes involved in muscle function and components of Notch, TGF-beta and EGFR signaling pathways. In addition, components of pathways that are required for cellular and/or axonal migration through cytoskeletal regulation, such as Semaphorin-Plexin, Frazzled-Netrin and Slit-Robo pathways show interactions with Dys and/or Dg. These data suggest that the Dg-Dys complex and the other pathways regulating extracellular information transfer to the cytoskeletal dynamics are more intercalated than previously thought.
Ecdysteroids Affect Drosophila Ovarian Stem Cell Niche Formation and Early Germline Differentiation
Previously, it has been shown that in Drosophila steroid hormones are required for progression of oogenesis during late stages of egg maturation. Here, we show that ecdysteroids regulate progression through the early steps of germ cell lineage. Upon ecdysone signalling deficit germline stem cell progeny delay to switch on a differentiation programme. This differentiation impediment is associated with reduced TGF-β signalling in the germline and increased levels of cell adhesion complexes and cytoskeletal proteins in somatic escort cells. A co-activator of the ecdysone receptor, Taiman is the spatially restricted regulator of the ecdysone signalling pathway in soma. Additionally, when ecdysone signalling is perturbed during the process of somatic stem cell niche establishment enlarged functional niches able to host additional stem cells are formed.
