The cell adhesion molecule Fasciclin2 regulates brush border length and organization in Drosophila renal tubules

Kenneth A. Halberg (), Stephanie M. Rainey, Iben R. Veland, Helen Neuert, Anthony J. Dornan, Christian Klämbt, Shireen-Anne Davies and Julian A. T. Dow ()
Additional contact information
Kenneth A. Halberg: Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Davidson Building Room 324, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Stephanie M. Rainey: Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Davidson Building Room 324, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Iben R. Veland: Cancer Research UK | Beatson Institute, Garscube Estate
Helen Neuert: Institut für Neuro- und Verhaltensbiologie, Universität Münster
Anthony J. Dornan: Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Davidson Building Room 324, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Christian Klämbt: Institut für Neuro- und Verhaltensbiologie, Universität Münster
Shireen-Anne Davies: Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Davidson Building Room 324, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Julian A. T. Dow: Institute of Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Davidson Building Room 324, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Multicellular organisms rely on cell adhesion molecules to coordinate cell–cell interactions, and to provide navigational cues during tissue formation. In Drosophila, Fasciclin 2 (Fas2) has been intensively studied due to its role in nervous system development and maintenance; yet, Fas2 is most abundantly expressed in the adult renal (Malpighian) tubule rather than in neuronal tissues. The role Fas2 serves in this epithelium is unknown. Here we show that Fas2 is essential to brush border maintenance in renal tubules of Drosophila. Fas2 is dynamically expressed during tubule morphogenesis, localizing to the brush border whenever the tissue is transport competent. Genetic manipulations of Fas2 expression levels impact on both microvilli length and organization, which in turn dramatically affect stimulated rates of fluid secretion by the tissue. Consequently, we demonstrate a radically different role for this well-known cell adhesion molecule, and propose that Fas2-mediated intermicrovillar homophilic adhesion complexes help stabilize the brush border.

Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11266 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms11266

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11266

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().