Role of gap junction protein, Innexin2, mediated intercellular communication in cell fate specification and epithelial morphogenesis during Drosophila oogenesis

Sahu, Aresh (2017) Role of gap junction protein, Innexin2, mediated intercellular communication in cell fate specification and epithelial morphogenesis during Drosophila oogenesis. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

PDF (PhD thesis of Aresh Sahu (11RS014)) 11RS014.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (7MB)

Abstract

The work presented in this thesis gives novel insight into the underlying mechanism of gap junction function in cell fate specification and epithelial morphogenesis during Drosophila oogenesis. My results suggest that Inx2 mediated calcium flux in the follicle cells regulates border cell fate specification and shape change of the anterior follicle cells during Drosophila egg chamber development. At the molecular level, I provide evidence that Inx2 mediates the calcium flux and alters the Shibire localization in the follicle cells that probably regulates the internalization of Domeless receptor. Endocytosis of Domeless activates STAT in the follicle cells, which is critical for the specification of border cells. Thus by altering the rate of endocytosis, in the follicle cells, Innexin2 regulates the activity of JAK-STAT signaling which leads to the recruitment of border cells. In this report, the dual role of calcium has been outlined for the regulation of epithelial morphogenesis. However, further study is required to dissect the specific role of calcium in the above processes. It will be of immense interest to determine whether calcium mediated disassembly of adherens junction and endocytosis of membrane markers are coupled and whether the accumulation of membrane proteins is the cause of the morphogenic defect or is it a consequence of the defect in AJ remodeling. Further investigation is required to increase our understanding of how calcium regulates AJ remodeling. Thus, this report provides a framework to understand the basic details of GJ mediated epithelial maintenance and morphogenesis. Overall my thesis provides an insight into the novel mechanism of gap junction mediated intercellular communication in cell fate specification and cell shape change during epithelial morphogenesis. It will be interesting to examine if such kind of gap junction function is also observed in other metazoan systems too.

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