Two Forkhead Transcription Factors Regulate the Division of Cardiac Progenitor Cells by a Polo-Dependent Pathway

• Published in: Developmental cell 2012-07, Vol.23 (1), p.97-111
• Main Authors: Ahmad, Shaad M., Tansey, Terese R., Busser, Brian W., Nolte, Michael T., Jeffries, Neal, Gisselbrecht, Stephen S., Rusan, Nasser M., Michelson, Alan M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cell differentiation, maturation, development, hematopoiesis; Cell Division - genetics; Cell physiology; Drosophila melanogaster - embryology; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - genetics; Drosophila Proteins - metabolism; Drosophila Proteins - physiology; Forkhead Transcription Factors - genetics; Forkhead Transcription Factors - metabolism; Forkhead Transcription Factors - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental - physiology; Heart - embryology; Mitosis - genetics; Mitosis - physiology; Molecular and cellular biology; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - genetics; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases - physiology; Signal Transduction - physiology; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - physiology; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism
• ISSN: 1534-5807; 1878-1551
• DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2012.05.011

The development of a complex organ requires the specification of appropriate numbers of each of its constituent cell types, as well as their proper differentiation and correct positioning relative to each other. During Drosophila cardiogenesis, all three of these processes are controlled by jumeau (jumu) and Checkpoint suppressor homologue (CHES-1-like), two genes encoding forkhead transcription factors that we discovered utilizing an integrated genetic, genomic, and computational strategy for identifying genes expressed in the developing Drosophila heart. Both jumu and CHES-1-like are required during asymmetric cell division for the derivation of two distinct cardiac cell types from their mutual precursor and in symmetric cell divisions that produce yet a third type of heart cell. jumu and CHES-1-like control the division of cardiac progenitors by regulating the activity of Polo, a kinase involved in multiple steps of mitosis. This pathway demonstrates how transcription factors integrate diverse developmental processes during organogenesis. [Display omitted] ► A genomic screen identifies 70 genes expressed in Drosophila cardiac cells ► Two forkhead genes, jumu and CHES-1-like, regulate Drosophila cardiogenesis ► Symmetric and asymmetric cardiac cell divisions require jumu and CHES-1-like ► The cardiogenic effects of jumu and CHES-1-like are mediated by Polo kinase Ahmad et al. find that two Forkhead transcription factors specify Drosophila heart cell number, identity, and position by influencing both asymmetric and symmetric cardiac progenitor cell divisions. These Forkhead factors control cell division by regulating the activity of Polo, a kinase involved in multiple steps of mitosis.