The transcription repressor Tramtrack (TTK) is found in cone cells but not photoreceptor cells of the Drosophila eye. We show that down-regulation of TTK expression occurs in photoreceptor cells and is required for their fate determination. Down-regulation requires the presence of Phyllopod (PHYL), which is induced by the RAS pathway, and Seven In Absentia (SINA). Loss of either gene causes accumulation of TTK in photoreceptor cells, and TTK does not accumulate in cone cells if both PHYL and SINA are present. We report that SINA and PHYL promote ubiquitination and rapid degradation of TTK by the proteasome pathway in cell culture, and both SINA and PHYL bind to the N-terminal domain of TTK. These results argue that photoreceptor differentiation is regulated by the RAS pathway through targeted proteolysis of the TTK repressor.

Osteopontin (OPN), a multifunctional acidic glycoprotein, expressed by osteoblasts within the endosteal region of the bone marrow (BM) suppresses the proliferation of hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells and also regulates their lodgment within the BM after transplantation. Herein we demonstrate that OPN cleavage fragments are the most abundant forms of this protein within the BM. Studies aimed to determine how hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) interact with OPN revealed for the first time that murine and human HSCs express alpha(9)beta(1) integrin. The N-terminal thrombin cleavage fragment of OPN through its binding to the alpha(9)beta(1) and alpha(4)beta(1) integrins plays a key role in the attraction, retention, regulation, and release of hemopoietic stem and progenitor cells to, in, and from their BM niche. Thrombin-cleaved OPN (trOPN) acts as a chemoattractant for stem and progenitor cells, mediating their migration in a manner that involves interaction with alpha(9)beta(1) and alpha(4)beta(1) integrins. In addition, in the absence of OPN, there is an increased number of white blood cells and, specifically, stem and progenitor cells in the peripheral circulation.

ebi regulates the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway at multiple steps in Drosophila development. Mutations in ebi and Egfr lead to similar phenotypes and show genetic interactions. However, ebi does not show genetic interactions with other RTKs (e.g., torso) or with components of the canonical Ras/MAP kinase pathway. ebi encodes an evolutionarily conserved protein with a unique amino terminus, distantly related to F-box sequences, and six tandemly arranged carboxy-terminal WD40 repeats. Epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) have a central role in vertebrate and invertebrate development (for review, see van der Geer et al. 1994;Wassarman et al. 1995;Freeman 1998). Biochemical studies largely in mammalian systems and genetic studies in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila have led to a detailed description of the signal transduction pathways elicited by activation of the EGFR (for review, see Kayne and Sternberg 1995; Schwietzer and Shilo 1997). These include the Ras/MAP kinase (MAPK), Ca 2+ , and phosphatidyl inositol-dependent signaling pathways (for review, see Kazlauskas 1994). In Drosophila, the Ras/MAP kinase cascade is the prominent signaling pathway triggered by the EGFR. Two other fly receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that control patterning and cell fate specification, Torso (for review, see Duffy and Perrimon 1994) and Sevenless (Sev) (for review, see Zipursky and Rubin 1994), do so largely, if not exclusively, through activation of this pathway.The development of the R7 photoreceptor neuron in the fly eye has proved to be a system amenable to detailed genetic dissection of RTK signaling pathways (Wassarman et al. 1995). Whereas the Sev RTK is required for the development of R7 only, EGFR is essential for the development of most, if not all, cells, including R7 (for review, see Freeman 1996a). This dual RTK requirement is intriguing. Constitutively active overexpressed forms of both Sev and EGFR are sufficient to induce R7 development. Furthermore, overexpression of Spitz, a ligand for EGFR, can partially rescue R7 development in a sev null mutant background. These findings have led Freeman (1996b) to propose that signals from Sev and EGFR are qualitatively equivalent. This is consistent with previous findings that overexpression of activated forms of proteins in the Ras/MAP kinase pathway induce receptor-independent R7 development (Fortini et al. 1992;Dickson et al. 1992a;Brunner et al. 1994). These observations support the view that activation of the Ras/MAPK pathway is sufficient to induce R7 development during normal development.The activities of three transcription factors are modulated by the MAPK signaling pathway in the R7 precursor cell. Two ETS-domain-containing transcription factors, Yan and Pointed, are direct targets of MAPK phosphorylation: Pointed is activated by phosphorylation and promotes R7 induction (O'Neil et al. 1994), whereas Yan is inhibited by phosphorylation and acts as a transcriptional repressor (Rebay and Rubin 1995). Inactivation of a second rep...

The receptor tyrosine kinase Sevenless determines R7 cell fate by activation of the Rasl pathway in a subset of equivalent cells competent to respond in the Drosophila eye. We show that the prospero gene becomes transcriptionally activated at a low level in all Sevenless-competent cells prior to Sevenless signaling, and this requires the activities of Rasl and two Rasl/MAP kinase-responsive ETS transcription factors. Restriction of high-level prospero expression to the R7 cell appears as a subsequent event, which requires Sevenless activation of the Rasl/MAP kinase pathway. We show that Phyllopod, a nuclear factor whose expression is induced by Sevenless, interacts with another nuclear factor, Sina, to form a complex, and that both factors are involved in upregulating transcription of the prospero gene in the eye. Ultimately, prospero expression is required for proper connectivity of R7 photoreceptor axons to their synaptic targets. Our results suggest that specific transcriptional responses are linked to the mode of activation of the Rasl/MAP kinase signal transduction pathway. [Key Words: Drosophila; prospero; sevenless; Rasl; eye development] Received May 29, 1996; revised version accepted July 11, 1996.Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are involved in signaling between cells to regulate proliferation and differentiation. RTK signaling can be substituted by gain-offunction variants of Ras, MEK, and MAP kinase (MAPK), all of which are components of the same signal transduction pathway (for review, see Zipursky and Rubin 1994;Marshall 1995). This suggests that Ras-mediated activation of MAPK is a critical event in signal transduction from RTKs. Paradoxically, the Ras pathway is commonly required in many cell types during development, and yet activation of distinct RTKs generates different cellular responses. A central issue in understanding RTK signaling is how a cell-type specific response is generated by use of a common Ras pathway. In rat PC12 cells, the decision to differentiate into a neuron or to proliferate is guided by the duration of MAPK activation (Marshall 1995). In turn, this is regulated by the specific ligand-RTK interaction triggered in PC12 cells. In the Drosophila eye, specific responses are in part determined by cell-specific factors that function downstream of MAPK (Dickson 1995). Here we describe a gene, prospero (pros), that is necessary for cell-type specific differentiation in the Drosophila eye and is transcriptionally regulated by multiple signals that activate the same Rasl pathway.The Drosophila eye develops by the reiterative patterning of -800 ommatidia initiated in the larval eye imaginal disc. Differentiation occurs progressively from posterior to anterior across the eye disc, with the leading edge of differentiation marked by an indentation called ICorresponding author.the morphogenetic furrow. Assembly of each ommatidium behind the furrow occurs by the sequential recruitment of undifferentiated cells into distinct developmental programs (Zipursky and Rubin 1994). The R7 photo...

The inherent disadvantages of using granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) mobilization have driven efforts to identify alternate strategies based on single doses of small molecules. Here, we show targeting α9β1/α4β1 integrins with a single dose of a small molecule antagonist (BOP (N-(benzenesulfonyl)-L-prolyl-L-O-(1-pyrrolidinylcarbonyl)tyrosine)) rapidly mobilizes long-term multi-lineage reconstituting HSC. Synergistic engraftment augmentation is observed when BOP is co-administered with AMD3100. Impressively, HSC in equal volumes of peripheral blood (PB) mobilized with this combination effectively out-competes PB mobilized with G-CSF. The enhanced mobilization observed using BOP and AMD3100 is recapitulated in a humanized NODSCIDIL2Rγ−/− model, demonstrated by a significant increase in PB CD34+ cells. Using a related fluorescent analogue of BOP (R-BC154), we show that this class of antagonists preferentially bind human and mouse HSC and progenitors via endogenously primed/activated α9β1/α4β1 within the endosteal niche. These results support using dual α9β1/α4β1 inhibitors as effective, rapid and transient mobilization agents with promising clinical applications.