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The Drosophila protein Wunen repels migrating germ cells

Nature volume 385, pages 64–67 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

INDrosophila, germ cells migrate in embryonic development from the lumen of the developing gut towards the overlying mesoderm, where they enter the gonads1,2. The gene wunen is responsible for guiding the germ cells early in this process3. Here we report that the protein Wunen has two properties that allow it to use repulsion to guide the germ cells. Wunen can transform a permissive cellular environment into a repulsive one, and is expressed in the gut in a pattern that guides germ cells towards the mesoderm. Wunen shows strong similarity to the enzyme type 2 phosphatidic acid phophatase(PAP2)4, suggesting that it is involved in lipid metabolism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Jackson Laboratory, 600 Main Street, Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609, USA

    Nian Zhang

  2. Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Roche Research Center, 340 Kingsland Street, Nutley, New Jersey, 07110, USA

    Nian Zhang, Jiaping Zhang, Yan Cheng & Ken Howard

  3. Department of Virus and Cell Biology, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, Pennsylvania, 19486, USA

    Jiaping Zhang

  4. Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Departments of Cell Biology and Biology, 295 Congress Avenue, P.O. Box 9812, New Haven, Connecticut, 06536-0812, USA

    Karen J. Purcell & Ken Howard

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, 46556, USA

    Yan Cheng

  6. Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Ken Howard

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Zhang, N., Zhang, J., Purcell, K. et al. The Drosophila protein Wunen repels migrating germ cells. Nature 385, 64–67 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/385064a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/385064a0

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