Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2007-5-17
pubmed:abstractText
The Drosophila Alk receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) drives founder cell specification in the developing visceral mesoderm and is crucial for the formation of the fly gut. Activation of Alk occurs in response to the secreted ligand Jelly Belly. No homologues of Jelly Belly are described in vertebrates, therefore we have approached the question of the evolutionary conservation of the Jeb-Alk interaction by asking whether vertebrate ALK is able to function in Drosophila. Here we show that the mouse ALK RTK is unable to rescue a Drosophila Alk mutant, indicating that mouse ALK is unable to recognise and respond to the Drosophila Jeb molecule. Furthermore, the overexpression of a dominant-negative Drosophila Alk transgene is able to block the visceral muscle fusion event, which an identically designed dominant-negative construct for the mouse ALK is not. Using PC12 cells as a model for neurite outgrowth, we show here for the first time that activation of dAlk by Jeb results in neurite extension. However, the mouse Alk receptor is unable to respond in any way to the Drosophila Jeb protein in the PC12 system. In conclusion, we find that the mammalian ALK receptor is unable to respond to the Jeb ligand in vivo or in vitro. These results suggest that either (i) mouse ALK and "mouse Jeb" have co-evolved to the extent that mALK can no longer recognise the Drosophila Jeb ligand or (ii) that the mALK RTK has evolved such that it is no longer activated by a Jeb-like molecule in vertebrates.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
1552-5007
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
15
pubmed:volume
308
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
269-82
pubmed:dateRevised
2011-6-8
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Base Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Blotting, Western, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Cell Differentiation, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Crosses, Genetic, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-DNA Primers, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Drosophila Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Drosophila melanogaster, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Enzyme Activation, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Evolution, Molecular, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Immunoprecipitation, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Larva, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Mesoderm, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Mice, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Neurites, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-PC12 Cells, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Rats, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Sequence Analysis, DNA, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Species Specificity, pubmed-meshheading:17285636-Transgenes
pubmed:year
2007
pubmed:articleTitle
The ligand Jelly Belly (Jeb) activates the Drosophila Alk RTK to drive PC12 cell differentiation, but is unable to activate the mouse ALK RTK.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Medical Biosciences, Umeå University, Umeå S-901 87, Sweden.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't