PMID:16280349

Citation	Werz, C, Lee, TV, Lee, PL, Lackey, M, Bolduc, C, Stein, DS and Bergmann, A (2005) Mis-specified cells die by an active gene-directed process, and inhibition of this death results in cell fate transformation in Drosophila. Development 132:5343-52
Abstract	Incorrectly specified or mis-specified cells often undergo cell death or are transformed to adopt a different cell fate during development. The underlying cause for this distinction is largely unknown. In many developmental mutants in Drosophila, large numbers of mis-specified cells die synchronously, providing a convenient model for analysis of this phenomenon. The maternal mutant bicoid is particularly useful model with which to address this issue because its mutant phenotype is a combination of both transformation of tissue (acron to telson) and cell death in the presumptive head and thorax regions. We show that a subset of these mis-specified cells die through an active gene-directed process involving transcriptional upregulation of the cell death inducer hid. Upregulation of hid also occurs in oskar mutants and other segmentation mutants. In hid bicoid double mutants, mis-specified cells in the presumptive head and thorax survive and continue to develop, but they are transformed to adopt a different cell fate. We provide evidence that the terminal torso signaling pathway protects the mis-specified telson tissue in bicoid mutants from hid-induced cell death, whereas mis-specified cells in the head and thorax die, presumably because equivalent survival signals are lacking. These data support a model whereby mis-specification can be tolerated if a survival pathway is provided, resulting in cellular transformation.
Links	PubMed PMC2760325 Online version:10.1242/dev.02150
Keywords	Animals; Body Patterning; Caspases/metabolism; Cell Death/physiology; Cell Differentiation/physiology; Cell Survival; Drosophila/embryology; Drosophila/genetics; Drosophila/physiology; Drosophila Proteins/biosynthesis; Drosophila Proteins/genetics; Drosophila Proteins/physiology; Embryo, Nonmammalian/cytology; Embryo, Nonmammalian/physiology; Enzyme Activation; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Homeodomain Proteins/genetics; Homeodomain Proteins/physiology; Mutation; Neuropeptides/biosynthesis; Neuropeptides/genetics; Neuropeptides/physiology; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/genetics; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases/physiology; Signal Transduction; Trans-Activators/genetics; Trans-Activators/physiology
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