Type IV collagens regulate BMP signalling in Drosophila

Xiaomeng Wang, Robin E. Harris, Laura J. Bayston and Hilary L. Ashe ()
Additional contact information
Xiaomeng Wang: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
Robin E. Harris: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
Laura J. Bayston: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
Hilary L. Ashe: Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK

Nature, 2008, vol. 455, issue 7209, 72-77

Abstract: Abstract Dorsal–ventral patterning in vertebrate and invertebrate embryos is mediated by a conserved system of secreted proteins that establishes a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) gradient. Although the Drosophila embryonic Decapentaplegic (Dpp) gradient has served as a model to understand how morphogen gradients are established, no role for the extracellular matrix has been previously described. Here we show that type IV collagen extracellular matrix proteins bind Dpp and regulate its signalling in both the Drosophila embryo and ovary. We provide evidence that the interaction between Dpp and type IV collagen augments Dpp signalling in the embryo by promoting gradient formation, yet it restricts the signalling range in the ovary through sequestration of the Dpp ligand. Together, these results identify a critical function of type IV collagens in modulating Dpp in the extracellular space during Drosophila development. On the basis of our findings that human type IV collagen binds BMP4, we predict that this role of type IV collagens will be conserved.

Date: 2008
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature07214 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:nature:v:455:y:2008:i:7209:d:10.1038_nature07214

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

DOI: 10.1038/nature07214

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

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