Hedgehog morphogen gradient is robust towards variations in tissue morphology in Drosophila

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

During tissue development, gradients of secreted signaling molecules known as morphogens provide cells with positional information. The mechanisms underlying morphogen spreading have been widely studied, however, it remains largely unexplored whether the shape of morphogen gradients is influenced by tissue morphology. Here, we developed an analysis pipeline to quantify the distribution of proteins within a curved tissue. We applied it to the Hedgehog morphogen gradient in the Drosophila wing and eye-antennal imaginal discs, which are flat and curved tissues, respectively. Despite a different expression profile, the slope of the Hedgehog gradient was comparable between the two tissues. Moreover, inducing ectopic folds in wing imaginal discs did not affect the slope of the Hedgehog gradient. Suppressing curvature in the eye-antennal imaginal disc also did not alter the Hedgehog gradient slope but led to ectopic Hedgehog expression. In conclusion, through the development of an analysis pipeline that allows quantifying protein distribution in curved tissues, we show that the Hedgehog gradient is robust towards variations in tissue morphology.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number8454
Number of pages13
JournalScientific reports
Volume13 (2023)
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 25 May 2023
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 37231029

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Drosophila, Cell biology, Developmental biology