Abstract
BackgroundIn Drosophila, each external sensory organ originates from the division of a unique precursor cell (the sensory organ precursor cell or SOP). Each SOP is specified from a cluster of equivalent cells, called a proneural cluster, all of them competent to become SOP. Although, it is well known how SOP cells are selected from proneural clusters, little is known about the downstream genes that are regulated during SOP fate specification.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn order to better understand the mechanism involved in the specification of these precursor cells, we combined laser microdissection, toisolate SOP cells, with transcriptome analysis, to study their RNA profile. Using this procedure, we found that genes that exhibit a 2-fold or greater expression in SOPs versus epithelial cells were mainly associated with Gene Ontology (GO) terms related with cell fate determination and sensory organ specification. Furthermore, we found that several genes such as pebbled/hindsight, scabrous, miranda, senseless, or cut, known to be expressed in SOP cells by independent procedures, are particularly detected in laser microdissected SOP cells rather than in epithelial cells.Conclusions/SignificanceThese results confirm the feasibility and the specificity of our laser microdissection based procedure. We anticipate that this analysis will give new insight into the selection and specification of neural precursor cells.
Highlights
In Drosophila, the small external sensory organs located on the dorsal part of the thorax has become an excellent system to analyse mechanisms involved in the acquisition and maintenance of neural precursor cell identity from a nondifferentiated state [1,2]
Each sensory organ develops from a single SOP that arises from a cluster of equivalent cells called proneural cluster
Cells of a proneural cluster are defined by the expression of the proneural genes achaete and scute that provide them with the competence to become SOP [3,4]
Summary
In Drosophila, the small external sensory organs (microchaetes) located on the dorsal part of the thorax has become an excellent system to analyse mechanisms involved in the acquisition and maintenance of neural precursor cell identity from a nondifferentiated state [1,2] In this system, each sensory organ develops from a single SOP that arises from a cluster of equivalent cells called proneural cluster. The proneural competence is progressively restricted to only one cell that accumulates the highest level of proneural proteins and that will become the SOP whereas the others cells remain epithelial cells This process of SOP selection depends on both the auto and cross regulation of proneural gene expression [4] and the activation of the Notch signalling pathway. It is well known how SOP cells are selected from proneural clusters, little is known about the downstream genes that are regulated during SOP fate specification
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