A model of the spatio-temporal dynamics of drosophila eye disc development

Fried, P., Sanchez Aragon, M. , Aguilar-Hidalgo, D., Lehtinen, B., Casares, F. and Iber, D. (2016) A model of the spatio-temporal dynamics of drosophila eye disc development. PLoS Computational Biology, 12(9), 1553-7358. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005052) (PMID:27626238) (PMCID:PMC5023109)

Abstract

Patterning and growth are linked during early development and have to be tightly controlled to result in a functional tissue or organ. During the development of the Drosophila eye, this linkage is particularly clear: the growth of the eye primordium mainly results from proliferating cells ahead of the morphogenetic furrow (MF), a moving signaling wave that sweeps across the tissue from the posterior to the anterior side, that induces proliferating cells anterior to it to differentiate and become cell cycle quiescent in its wake. Therefore, final eye disc size depends on the proliferation rate of undifferentiated cells and on the speed with which the MF sweeps across the eye disc. We developed a spatio-temporal model of the growing eye disc based on the regulatory interactions controlled by the signals Decapentaplegic (Dpp), Hedgehog (Hh) and the transcription factor Homothorax (Hth) and explored how the signaling patterns affect the movement of the MF and impact on eye disc growth. We used published and new quantitative data to parameterize the model. In particular, two crucial parameter values, the degradation rate of Hth and the diffusion coefficient of Hh, were measured. The model is able to reproduce the linear movement of the MF and the termination of growth of the primordium. We further show that the model can explain several mutant phenotypes, but fails to reproduce the previously observed scaling of the Dpp gradient in the anterior compartment

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Funding: This work has been supported through grants BFU2012-34324 and BFU2015-66040 (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), Spain) to FC.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sanchez Aragon, Mr Maximo
• Authors: Fried, P., Sanchez Aragon, M., Aguilar-Hidalgo, D., Lehtinen, B., Casares, F., and Iber, D.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Molecular Biosciences
• Journal Name: PLoS Computational Biology
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1553-734X
• ISSN (Online): 1553-7358
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Fried et al.
• First Published: First published in PLoS Computational Biology 12(9):e1005052
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence