Base molecular y celular de la organogénesis en Drosophila

Drosophila Iroquois (Iro) genes and their orthologues, the Irx genes, encode homeoproteins of the TALE family that participate in several developmental processes by acting as transcriptional regulators.  We have recently identified a novel function of the Iro genes: their ability to control cell proliferation during normal development and in several tumoral models. Interestingly, our findings indicate Iro proteins are able to regulate cell cycle progression by a transcription-independent mechanism. We have generated several transgenic flies able to express mutant forms of Caup, one of the three Drosophila Iro proteins. They will allow us to determine which developmental processes controlled by caup depend on the regulation of gene expression and which ones rely on cell cycle control.

Barrios N, González-Pérez E, Hernández R, and Campuzano S. The homeodomain Iroquois proteins control cell cycle progression and regulate the size of developmental fields .  PLoS Genet. 2015 Aug 25;11(8):e1005463