Locomotion defects, together with Pins, regulates heterotrimeric G-protein signaling during Drosophila neuroblast asymmetric divisions

Heterotrimeric G proteins mediate asymmetric division of Drosophila neuroblasts. Free Gbetagamma appears to be crucial for the generation of an asymmetric mitotic spindle and consequently daughter cells of distinct size. However, how Gbetagamma is released from the inactive heterotrimer remains uncl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes & development 2005-06, Vol.19 (11), p.1341-1353
Main Authors: Yu, Fengwei, Wang, Hongyan, Qian, Hongliang, Kaushik, Rachna, Bownes, Mary, Yang, Xiaohang, Chia, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Drosophila - cytology
GTP Phosphohydrolases - metabolism
Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins - metabolism
Immunohistochemistry
Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - physiology
Locomotion
Neurons - cytology
Neurons - enzymology
Neurons - metabolism
Research Papers
Signal Transduction
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Summary:Heterotrimeric G proteins mediate asymmetric division of Drosophila neuroblasts. Free Gbetagamma appears to be crucial for the generation of an asymmetric mitotic spindle and consequently daughter cells of distinct size. However, how Gbetagamma is released from the inactive heterotrimer remains unclear. Here we show that Locomotion defects (Loco) interacts and colocalizes with Galphai and, through its GoLoco motif, acts as a guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI) for Galphai. Simultaneous removal of the two GoLoco motif proteins, Loco and Pins, results in defects that are essentially indistinguishable from those observed in Gbeta13F or Ggamma1 mutants, suggesting that Loco and Pins act synergistically to release free Gbetagamma in neuroblasts. Furthermore, the RGS domain of Loco can also accelerate the GTPase activity of Galphai to regulate the equilibrium between the GDP- and the GTP-bound forms of Galphai. Thus, Loco can potentially regulate heterotrimeric G-protein signaling via two distinct modes of action during Drosophila neuroblast asymmetric divisions.
ISSN:0890-9369
1549-5477
DOI:10.1101/gad.1295505