In mammalian systems, the heterodimeric basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-PAS transcription hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) has emerged as the key regulator of responses to hypoxia. Here we define a homologous system in Drosophila melanogaster, and we characterize its activity in vivo during development. By using transcriptional reporters in developing transgenic flies, we show that hypoxia-inducible activity rises to a peak in late embryogenesis and is most pronounced in tracheal cells. We show that the bHLH-PAS proteins Similar (Sima) and Tango (Tgo) function as HIF-␣ and HIF-␤ homologues, respectively, and demonstrate a conserved mode of regulation for Sima by oxygen. Sima protein, but not its mRNA, was upregulated in hypoxia. Time course experiments following pulsed ectopic expression demonstrated that Sima is stabilized in hypoxia and that degradation relies on a central domain encompassing amino acids 692 to 863. Continuous ectopic expression overrode Sima degradation, which remained cytoplasmic in normoxia, and translocated to the nucleus only in hypoxia, revealing a second oxygen-regulated activation step. Abrogation of the Drosophila Egl-9 prolyl hydroxylase homologue, CG1114, caused both stabilization and nuclear localization of Sima, indicating a central involvement in both processes. Tight conservation of the HIF/prolyl hydroxylase system in Drosophila provides a new focus for understanding oxygen homeostasis in intact multicellular organisms.

Genomic instability has been observed in essentially all sporadic carcinomas. Here we use Drosophila epithelial cells to address the role of chromosomal instability in cancer development as they have proved useful for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenic growth. We first show that chromosomal instability leads to an apoptotic response. Interestingly, this response is p53 independent, as opposed to mammalian cells, and depends on the activation of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling cascade. When prevented from undergoing programmed cell death (PCD), chromosomal instability induces neoplasic overgrowth. These tumor-like tissues are able to grow extensively and metastasize when transplanted into the abdomen of adult hosts. Detailed analysis of the tumors allows us to identify a delaminating cell population as the critical one in driving tumorigenesis. Cells loose their apicalbasal polarity, mislocalize DE-cadherin, and delaminate from the main epithelium. A JNK-dependent transcriptional program is activated specifically in delaminating cells and drives nonautonomous tissue overgrowth, basement membrane degradation, and invasiveness. These findings unravel a general and rapid tumorigenic potential of genomic instability, as opposed to its proposed role as a source of mutability to select specific tumor-prone aneuploid cells, and open unique avenues toward the understanding of the role of genomic instability in human cancer.

Interactions between cells bearing oncogenic mutations and the surrounding microenvironment, and cooperation between clonally distinct cell populations, can contribute to the growth and malignancy of epithelial tumors. The genetic techniques available in have contributed to identify important roles of the TNF-α ligand Eiger and mitogenic molecules in mediating these interactions during the early steps of tumor formation. Here we unravel the existence of a tumor-intrinsic-and microenvironment-independent-self-reinforcement mechanism that drives tumor initiation and growth in an Eiger-independent manner. This mechanism relies on cell interactions between two functionally distinct cell populations, and we present evidence that these cell populations are not necessarily genetically different. Tumor-specific and cell-autonomous activation of the tumorigenic JNK stress-activated pathway drives the expression of secreted signaling molecules and growth factors to delaminating cells, which nonautonomously promote proliferative growth of the partially transformed epithelial tissue. We present evidence that cross-feeding interactions between delaminating and nondelaminating cells increase each other's sizes and that these interactions can explain the unlimited growth potential of these tumors. Our results will open avenues toward our molecular understanding of those social cell interactions with a relevant function in tumor initiation in humans.

A study demonstrating an imaging framework that permits the determination of cell lineages during organogenesis of the posterior lateral line in zebrafish is presented. The combination of Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy and specific fluorescent markers allows retrospective tracking of hair cell progenitors, and hence the derivation of their lineages within the primodium. It is shown that, because of its superior signal‐to‐noise ratio and lower photo‐damaged properties, SPIM can provide significantly higher‐quality images than Spinning Disk Confocal technology. This allows accurate 4D lineage tracing for the hair cells over tens of hours of primordium migration and neuromast development. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Highlights d CIN drives tissue invasiveness by promoting an amoeboidlike migratory behavior d The migratory behavior of aneuploid cells relies on activation of Myosin II by Rok d JNK promotes CIN-induced invasiveness through the Fos proto-oncogene d Ectopic Spitz/EGF drives CIN-induced invasiveness by inactivating Capicua

Substrate-specific degradation of proteins by the ubiquitinproteasome pathway is a precise mechanism that controls the abundance of key cell regulators. SCF complexes are a family of E3 ubiquitin ligases that target specific proteins for destruction at the 26S-proteasome. These complexes are composed of three constant polypeptides -Skp1, Cullin1/3 and Roc1/Rbx1 -and a fourth variable adapter, the F-box protein. Slimb (Slmb) is a Drosophila F-Box protein that fulfills several roles in development and cell physiology. We analyzed its participation in egg chamber development and found that slmb is required in both the follicle cells and the germline at different stages of oogenesis. We observed that in slmb somatic clones, morphogenesis of the germarium and encapsulation of the cyst were altered, giving rise to egg chambers with extra germline cells and two oocytes. Furthermore, in slmb somatic clones, we observed ectopic Fasciclin 3 expression, suggesting a delay in follicle cell differentiation, which correlated with the occurrence of ectopic polar cells, lack of interfollicular stalks and mislocalization of the oocyte. Later in oogenesis, Slmb was required in somatic cells to specify the position, size and morphology of dorsal appendages. Mild overactivation of the Dpp pathway caused similar phenotypes that could be antagonized by simultaneous overexpression of Slmb, suggesting that Slmb might normally downregulate the Dpp pathway in follicle cells. Indeed, ectopic expression of a dad-LacZ enhancer trap revealed that the Dpp pathway was upregulated in slmb somatic clones and, consistent with this, ectopic accumulation of the co-Smad protein, Medea, was recorded. By analyzing slmb germline clones, we found that loss of Slmb provoked a reduction in E2f2 and Dp levels, which correlated with misregulation of mitotic cycles during cyst formation, abnormal nurse cell endoreplication and impairment of dumping of the nurse cell content into the oocyte.

the homeodomain proteins Engrailed (En) and Invected are expressed in the posterior (P) compartment, where they are required to repress Ci expression (Eaton and Kornberg, 1990) and relieve Ci-mediated repression of hh (Bejarano and Milan, 2009). PcG proteins help to maintain the repression of hh expression in A cells whereas TrxG proteins contribute to maintaining the expression of hh in P cells (Bejarano and Milan, 2009;Chanas and Maschat, 2005). Notch activity at the dorsal-ventral (DV) compartment boundary has also been reported to participate in the regulation of hh expression; however, the mechanistic basis behind this is uncertain (Bejarano and Milan, 2009). Although communication between the hh-ME and those cis-enhancers that integrate positional information conferred by the activities of Ci, En and Notch has been proposed as a way to initiate and maintain the transcriptional state of hh in P cells, the identity of these enhancers and the proposed communication remain elusive.Here, we have isolated a 4.3-kb cis-regulatory region that recapitulates hh expression in the P compartment of the wing primordium. This fragment includes the previously defined hh-ME and a nearby enhancer (termed C enhancer) that responds to En, Ci and Notch and drives gene expression to a thin stripe in the P compartment that corresponds to the DV compartment boundary. We present evidence that the ME maintains the initial transcriptional Development 138, 3125-3134 (2011) SUMMARYTrithorax-group and Polycomb-group proteins interact with chromosomal elements, termed PRE/TREs, to ensure stable heritable maintenance of the transcriptional state of nearby genes. Regulatory elements that bind both groups of proteins are termed maintenance elements (MEs). Some of these MEs maintain the initial activated transcriptional state of a nearby reporter gene through several rounds of mitosis during development. Here, we show that expression of hedgehog in the posterior compartment of the Drosophila wing results from the communication between a previously defined ME and a nearby cisregulatory element termed the C enhancer. The C enhancer integrates the activities of the Notch and Hedgehog signalling pathways and, from the early wing primordium stage, drives expression to a thin stripe in the posterior compartment that corresponds to the dorsal-ventral compartment boundary. The ME maintains the initial activated transcriptional state conferred by the C enhancer and contributes to the expansion, by growth, of its expression domain throughout the posterior compartment. Communication between the ME and the C enhancer also contributes to repression of gene expression in anterior cells. Most interestingly, we present evidence that enhancers and MEs of different genes are interchangeable modules whose communication is involved in restricting and expanding the domains of gene expression. Our results emphasize the modular role of MEs in regulation of gene expression within growing tissues.

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